Options Trading News

U.S. equity futures are lower this morning after JP Morgan announced a surprise $2 billion loss on its derivative holdings.

The S&P 500 June futures are down 0.42 percent to 1351.75, and Nasdaq contracts are off 0.15 percent to 2614.5 as of this writing.

European indexes are also falling in large part because of the JPM debacle, with the U.K. FTSE 100 down 0.63 percent. Euro/dollar futures are lower by 0.09 percent to 1.2941, with 1.292 as overnight support.

Gold futures continue their slide, down 0.76 percent to 1583.30 after trading as low as 1572 earlier this morning. Front-month silver contracts are down 1.79 percent below the 29 level to 28.475. Copper futures are not far behind, down 1.67 percent to 3.629 a contract.

Much of the decline in metals can be attributed to weakness in China, where Hong Kong's Hang Seng index is lower by 1.3 percent.

Crude oil is down 1.02 percent to 96.10, with 95.80 remaining as support and 95.17 as the two-month low for the contract.

If the euro continues to decline against the greenback, pressure will likely persist on commidities across the market. That in turn will create strong headwinds for stocks when the market opens.

Shares of most U.S. banks are down in pre-market trading, with Bank of America and Citigroup both lower more than 3 percent. JP Morgan is lower by more than 8 percent to $37.45, down more than $3 from yesterday's close.

Elsewhere in the market, the price of shares in Arena Pharmaceuticals has almost doubled this morning after the company received the backing of a Federal Drug Administration advisory panel on the weight-loss drug lorcaserin after yesterday's close.