A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Rise Ahead Of Import Prices, Consumer Sentiment Data

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade. St. Louis Fed President James Bullard is set to speak at 8:30 a.m. ET. Data on import and export prices for April will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, while the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index for May is schedule for release at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 48 points to 24,740.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 5 points to 2,723.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 7.25 points to 6,971.75.

Oil prices traded mixed as Brent crude futures fell 0.13 percent to trade at $77.37 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.10 percent to trade at $71.43 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 lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.12 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index gaining 0.03 percent and German DAX 30 index dropping 0.26 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading lower by 0.06 percent, while French CAC 40 Index fell 0.30 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 1.16 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 1.02 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index declined 0.35 percent and India’s BSE Sensex rose 0.82 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Macquarie downgraded Symantec Corporation SYMC from Outperform to Neutral.

Symantec shares fell 24.95 percent to $21.90 in pre-market trading.

Breaking news

• Trade Desk Inc TTD reported upbeat results for its first quarter. The company also issued strong second-quarter and FY18 sales guidance.



• Symantec Corporation SYMC reported better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter, but issued weak second-quarter guidance.



• Yelp Inc YELP reported stronger-than-expected results for its first quarter on Thursday.



• NVIDIA Corporation NVDA reported better-than-expected results for its first quarter and issued strong second-quarter sales guidance.