A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Up; Citigroup, Wells Fargo Earnings In Focus

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade, ahead of earnings from Citigroup Inc. C and Wells Fargo & Company WFC. The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index for April and the Labor Department's JOLTS report for February will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Boston Federal Reserve Bank President Eric Rosengren is set to speak in Boston at 7:30 a.m. ET, while St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard will speak in St. Louis at 9:00 a.m. ET. Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Robert Kaplan is set to speak in Odessa, Texas at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 43 points to 24,502.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 4.75 points to 2,668.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 0.75 points to 6,670.25.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.33 percent to trade at $72.26 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.43 percent to trade at $67.36 a barrel. The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week is schedule for release at 1:00 p.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.68 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index climbing 0.34 percent and German DAX 30 index gaining 0.64 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.03 percent, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.37 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.55 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.07 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index declined 0.66 percent and India’s BSE Sensex rose 0.27 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Deutsche Bank upgraded Netflix, Inc. NFLX from Hold to Buy.

Netflix shares rose 1.86 percent to $315.00 in pre-market trading.

Breaking news

• JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM reported better-than-expected profit for its first quarter on Friday.



• Broadcom Inc AVGO reported a $12 billion share buyback plan.



• PNC Financial Services Group Inc PNC posted in-line profit for its first quarter.



• Sphere 3D Corp ANY shares tumbled over 26 percent in pre-market trading after reporting an offering of common shares and warrants.