A Peek Into The Markets: U.S. Stock Futures Up Ahead Of JPMorgan, Wells Fargo Earnings

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade, ahead of earnings from JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM and Wells Fargo & Co WFC. The Producer Price Index for December and retail sales report for December will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Data on business inventories for November and the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index for January will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank President Harker is set to speak in Philadelphia, Pa. at 9:30 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 23 points to 19,826.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 2.75 points to 2,266.25. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 8.25 points to 5,043.00.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures dropped 0.93 percent to trade at $55.49 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures also fell 0.98 percent to trade at $53.31 a barrel. The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week will be released at 1:00 p.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mostly higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.88 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index gaining 0.57 percent and German DAX 30 index gaining 0.60 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.28 percent, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.85 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.80 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.47 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index dropped 0.21 percent and India’s BSE Sensex fell 0.03 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Deutsche Bank upgraded Netflix, Inc. NFLX from Sell to Hold and raised the price target from $92.00 to $110.00.

Netflix shares rose 1.25 percent to $130.80 in pre-market trading.

Breaking news

• Bank of America Corp BAC reported better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter, but sales missed expectations.



• BlackRock, Inc. BLK reported stronger-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter.



• Pandora Media Inc P announced its plans to reduce US employee base by 7 percent by the end of the first quarter. The company also projects to exceed its earlier Q4 revenue forecast.



• PNC Financial Services Group Inc PNC posted upbeat earnings for its fourth quarter on Friday. The company now projects adjusted earnings of $0.77 to $0.82 per share on revenue of $84.5 million to $84.8 million.