A Peek Into The Markets: U.S. Stock Futures Rise; Apple Earnings Top Views

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade. The ADP national employment report for July will be released at 8:15 a.m. ET. Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank President Loretta Mester is set to speak in Cincinnati at 11:00 a.m. ET, while San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams will speak in Las Vegas at 3:30 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 38 points to 21,942, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 0.75 points to 2,473.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 43.50 points to 5,932.75.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.34 percent to trade at $52.43 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures gained 0.16 percent to trade at $49.24 a barrel. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories in the U.S. is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.40 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index declining 0.22 percent and German DAX 30 index dropping 0.23 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading lower by 0.34 percent, while French CAC 40 Index fell 0.15 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.47 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.24 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index declined 0.23 percent and India’s BSE Sensex fell 0.30 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Deutsche Bank downgraded The Ultimate Software Group, Inc. ULTI from Buy to Hold.

Ultimate Software shares rose 0.57 percent to close at $226.99 on Tuesday.

Breaking news

• Apple Inc. AAPL reported stronger-than-expected earnings for its third quarter. The company sold 41 million units iPhone units and 11.42 million iPad units during the quarter.
• Mondelez International Inc MDLZ posted upbeat earnings for its second quarter and named Dir Van de Put as CEO.



• PharMerica Corporation PMC agreed to be acquired by KKR for $29.25 per share in cash.



• Time Warner Inc TWX reported better-than-expected earnings for its second quarter.