Dow Futures Up as Jobs Data Trickles In

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) are trading above fair value ahead of a busy day of economic data. Already, traders are digesting ADP's payrolls report, which showed the private sector added a lower-than-expected 163,000 jobs in August, while weekly jobless claims unexpectedly fell to a 49-year low last week. Plus, productivity grew at its fastest pace since early 2015 in the second quarter, though labor costs rose at their slowest rate since late 2014. The S&P 500 Index (SPX) and Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) are signaling positive starts, too, set to bounce back from yesterday's down day.

Continue reading for more on today's market, including:

• How options traders played the Twitter, Facebook sell-offs.
• This retail stock could be ripe for a bullish options trade.
• Why one analyst is targeting 40% downside for this diagnostics stock.
• Plus, the retail stock popping post-earnings; Facebook builds in Asia; and Verint Systems gets set to soar.

5 Things You Need to Know Today

1. The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) saw 1.1 million call contracts traded on Wednesday, compared to 684,955 put contracts. The single-session equity put/call ratio fell to 0.59, and the 21-day moving average remained at 0.61.
2. G-III Apparel Group, Ltd. (NASDAQ:GIII) reported an adjusted second-quarter profit beat of 22 cents per share on stronger-than-expected revenue of $625 million. In reaction, the retail stock is up 9.4% in electronic trading, and could take aim at the overhead $46-$47 region, which has contained GIII since July.
3. Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) will spend more than $1 billion to build a data center in Singapore. This will be the first of such facilities in Asia for the social media name, and will be located near Google data centers. FB stock is up 0.2% ahead of the bell, but is still staring at stiff losses this week.
4. Verint Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:VRNT) reported adjusted second-quarter per-share earnings of 76 cents on $308.5 million in revenue -- more than analysts were expected. And with at least two brokerage firm boosting their price targets on the software stock, shares of VRNT have shot 12% higher in pre-market trading, on track to open at a roughly three-year high.

5. The holiday-delayed weekly crude inventories update, Markit's services purchasing managers index, factory orders, and the Institute for Supply Management non-manufacturing index are due out. Plus, New York Fed President John Williams will speak. Broadcom (AVGO), Finisar (FNSR), Five Below (FIVE), GameStop (GME), Marvell Technology (MRVL), Navistar (NAV), Palo Alto Networks (PANW), and Zumiez (ZUMZ) will report earnings.

Tencent Pressures Hong Kong Stocks

It was another down day for Asian stock markets, as fears persisted over more tariffs out the U.S. Once again the biggest loser was the Hang Seng, as the Hong Kong-based index fell 1%, with tech conglomerate Tencent extending yesterday's losses. Meanwhile, China's Shanghai Composite slid 0.5% and continues to trade near annual lows, while Japan's Nikkei shed 0.4% amid the aftermath of Typhoon Jebi and a major earthquake that hit the region this week. Elsewhere, the Kospi dipped 0.2% in South Korea.

Turning to Europe, some of the major equity benchmarks are sporting modest gains today, though London's FTSE 100 was last seen below breakeven. Utility and energy stocks are some of the best performers, but trade concerns are keeping a lid on a broader rally attempt throughout the region. While the German DAX and French CAC 40 were last seen with respective gains of 0.2% and 0.4%, the U.K. FTSE 100 was off 0.2%.