A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Rise Ahead Of Manufacturing Data

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade. The manufacturing PMI for September will be released at 9:45 a.m. ET. The ISM manufacturing index for September and data on construction spending for August will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Board of Governors Vice Chairman Richard Clarida will speak in Washington, D.C. at 8:50 a.m. ET, while St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard is set to speak in St. Louis, Missouri at 9:15 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Member of the Board of Governors Michelle Bowman will speak in St. Louis, Missouri at 9:30 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 70 points to 26,971 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded rose 6.25 points to 2,984.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index climbed 23.5 points to 7,794.00.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.9% to trade at $59.78 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 1% to trade at $54.62 a barrel.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mostly higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.2%, STOXX Europe 600 Index dropping 0.3% and German DAX 30 index falling 0.1%. The UK's FTSE index was trading lower by 0.3%, while French CAC 40 Index fell 0.2%.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.59%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.53%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.92% and India’s BSE Sensex fell 0.94%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Wells Fargo upgraded VMware, Inc. VMW from Market Perform to Outperform and raised the price target from $140 to $180.

VMware shares rose 2.9% to close at $150.06 on Monday.

Breaking News

• Reed’s, Inc. REED issued weak preliminary third-quarter sales guidance. The company also announced Chairman John Belo will serve as interim CEO.
• NewLink Genetics Corp NLNK announced it has entered a merger agreement with Lumos Pharma to form a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing therapies to treat rare diseases..
• Geron Corporation GERN disclosed that it has received an FDA Fast Track designation for Imetelstat for relapsed/refractory myelofibrosis.
• McKesson Corporation MCK reported better-than-expected earnings for its third quarter.