A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Surge Ahead Of JPMorgan, Wells Fargo Earnings

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade, ahead of earnings from JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM, Wells Fargo & Company WFC and The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. PNC. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is set to speak in Leesburg, Virginia. Data on import and export prices for March will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, while the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index for April is schedule for release at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 168 points to 26,301.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures gained 13.25 points to 2,905.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index climbed 33.25 points to 7,651.25.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 1 percent to trade at $71.53 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures climbed 1.4 percent to trade at $64.47 a barrel. The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the recent week will be released at 1:00 p.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.2 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index gaining 0.1 percent and German DAX 30 index gained 0.5 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.4 percent, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.3 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.73 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 0.24 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.04 percent and India’s BSE Sensex rose 0.41 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at KeyBanc downgraded W. R. Grace & Co. GRA from Overweight to Sector Weight.

W R Grace shares fell 0.28 percent to close at $77.31 on Thursday.

Breaking News

• Chevron Corporation CVX announced plans to acquire Anadarko Petroleum Corporation APC for $33 billion.
• Ophthotech Corp OPHT shares climbed over 10 percent in pre-market trading after the company obtained an exclusive global license to the AAV gene therapy program.
• AZZ Inc AZZ reported the purchase of K2 Partners.
• Viveve Medical Inc VIVE shares surged around 35 percent in pre-market trading following news of CE Mark clearance for its next-gen 2.0 platform in the European Union.