A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Signal Higher Start On Wall Street

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade. Data on initial jobless claims for the latest week and import prices for May will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 83 points to 26,095.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 10.5 points to 2,891.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index climbed 39.5 points to 7,512.75.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 3.8 percent to trade at $62.27 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 3.5 percent to trade at $52.91 a barrel. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on natural gas stocks in underground storage is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mostly higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.3 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index gaining 0.2 percent and German DAX 30 index gaining 0.5 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.2 percent, while French CAC 40 Index fell 0.1 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.46 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 0.05 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.05 percent and India’s BSE Sensex fell 0.48 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Barclays downgraded Union Pacific Corporation UNP from Overweight to Equal-Weight and lowered the price target from $190 to $170.

Union Pacific shares rose 0.1 percent to close at $171.23 on Wednesday.

Breaking News

• RH RH reported better-than-expected earnings for its first quarter and raised FY2019 guidance.
• KKR & Co Inc KKR agreed to sell KCF Technologies to SK Group affiliate SKC for $1 billion.
• Lululemon Athletica inc. LULU reported stronger-than-expected results for its first quarter and raised FY2019 earnings guidance.
• Oxford Industries Inc OXM reported better-than-expected earnings for its first quarter on Wednesday.