Dow Jones Industrial Average Futures Slide as Oil Retreats

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) futures are signaling a lower open, following the index's best session in over a month. Falling crude futures have the Dow below fair value, after an American Petroleum Institute (API) report suggested oil inventories rose by more than expected last week. Ahead of the Energy Information Administration's (EIA) official report, April oil futures are down 1.1% at $34.04 per barrel. Meanwhile, the Automatic Data Processing (ADP) employment report -- a precursor to Friday's closely watched jobs data -- indicated a bigger-than-anticipated rise in private-sector jobs last month. 

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• Plus... China's credit rating gets downgraded, one retailer's surprising quarter, and the commodity company talking M&A. 

5 Things You Need to Know Today

1. Stocks across Asia rallied, despite a downgrade of China's debt rating.
2. The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) saw 724,475 call contracts traded on Tuesday, compared to 490,587 put contracts. The resultant single-session equity put/call ratio moved up to 0.68, while the 21-day moving average edged up to 0.75.  
3. Retailer Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) has added almost 9% in pre-market trading, thanks to fourth-quarter earnings and revenue that topped expectations. The stock has already beat out the S&P 500 Index (SPX) by over 19 percentage points during the past three months, rewarding bulls who were able to pick up ANF options on the cheap. 
4. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) probe into Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE:VRX) was reportedly prompted by the company's request for an investigation into Citron Research's short seller claims; particularly, the company's relationship with pharmacy Philidor RX. No matter: VRX is 1.6% higher in electronic trade. 
5. Transocean LTD (NYSE:RIG) is looking at a 1.6% drop this morning, as Wall Street deciphers M&A-related comments from a company executive. Specifically, RIG CFO Mark Mey cited liquidity as the company's chief priority, and said identifying M&A opportunities is "definitely part of our strategy." At $9.07, RIG has lost more than one-fourth of its value in 2016. 

Earnings and Economic Data

The release of the Fed's Beige Book is also due out today. Additionally, San Francisco Fed President John Williams will speak on his economic outlook in Los Angeles. American Eagle Outfitters (AEO), Costco (COST), SINA Corp (SINA), and Tribune Publishing (TPUB) will report quarterly earnings. To see what else is coming up on this week's agenda, click here.