A Peek Into The Markets: U.S. Stock Futures Rise; All Eyes On Jobs Report

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade. Data on nonfarm payrolls and unemployment rate for August will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, while international trade report for July will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Data on factory orders for July will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 19 points to 18,415.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 0.75 points to 2,168.25. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index climbed 7.75 points to 4,786.00.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 1.56 percent to trade at $46.16 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures also rose 1.32 percent to trade at $43.73 a barrel.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.35 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index gaining 0.54 percent and German DAX 30 index gaining 0.29 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 1.05 percent, while French CAC 40 Index climbed 0.89 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.01 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.45 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.13 percent and India’s BSE Sensex climbed 0.38 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Piper Jaffray downgraded VeriFone Systems Inc PAY from Overweight to Neutral.

VeriFone shares declined 17.41 percent to $16.60 in pre-market trading.

Breaking news

• Lululemon Athletica inc. LULU reported in-line earnings for the second quarter, but revenue missed analysts’ estimates. The company also issued a weak earnings forecast for the current quarter. To read the full news, click here.



• Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co HPE is in talks with private equity firm Thoma Bravo LLC to sell its software division for between $8 billion and $10 billion, according to sources as reported by Reuters on Thursday.



• Smith & Wesson Holding Corp SWHC posted better-than-expected results for the first quarter and issued a strong forecast for the current quarter. To read the full news, click here.



• Broadcom Ltd AVGO reported upbeat earnings for its third quarter on Thursday.