A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Gain; Fed Meeting In Focus

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade, after recording gains in the previous session. Investors are awaiting earnings from Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. CBRL, FedEx Corporation FDX and Adobe Inc ADBE. The Federal Open Market Committee will begin its two-day policy meeting today. The Empire State manufacturing index for September and data on import and export prices for August will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Data on industrial production for August will be released at 9:15 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 162 points to 28,155 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded rose 21.25 points to 3,403.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index climbed 105.25 points to 11,385.75.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 6,554,820 with around 194,530 deaths. India reported a total of at least 4,930,230 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 4,345,610 cases.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.8% to trade at $39.94 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.9% to trade at $37.59 a barrel. The American Petroleum Institute’s report on crude supplies will be released later in the day.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 1.1% and STOXX Europe 600 Index gaining 0.4%. The French CAC 40 Index climbed 0.2%, while German DAX 30 rose 0.1% and London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.6%. The UK reported an increase in unemployment rate during the three months to July, with the rate rising to 4.1% from 3.9%.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.44%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.38% China’s Shanghai Composite Index climbed 0.51% and India’s BSE Sensex rose 0.7%. China reported further increase in home sales for August, with sales rising 4.1% year-over-year in January-August, versus a 0.4% rise in the January-July period. The country’s retail sales also returned to growth, increasing 0.5% year-over-year in August.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at KeyBanc initiated coverage on Twitter Inc TWTR with a Sector Weight rating.

Twitter shares rose 0.5% to $38.97 in pre-market trading.

Breaking News

• Lennar Corporation LEN reported upbeat earnings for its third quarter on Monday. Deliveries increased 2% to 13,842, while new orders rose 16% to 15,564 homes during the quarter.
• Sony Corporation SNE has cut production estimates of its PlayStation 5 console for the current financial year by 4 million, down to 11 million, Bloomberg reported Monday.
• NextEra Energy Inc NEE raised its guidance for 2021 and 2022 and extended its longer-term growth forecast to 2023. The company’s board also approved a four-for-one stock split.
• Eastman Kodak Company KODK is facing an inquiry from the United States International Development Finance Corp, the federal agency that planned to extend it a $765 million loan to manufacture drug ingredients, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.