A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Jump Following Joe Biden's Victory

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade following Joe Biden's victory in the Presidential elections. Investors are awaiting earnings from Mcdonald's Corp MCD, International Flavors & Fragrances Inc IFF and Occidental Petroleum Corporation OXY.

Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Master is set to speak at 1:30 p.m. ET, while Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker will speak at 2:20 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 405 points to 28,609.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded rose 52 points to 3,552.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index rose 217.50 points to 12,292.50.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 9,972,330 with around 237,570 deaths. India reported a total of at least 8,553,650 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 5,664,110 cases.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 2.2% to trade at $40.33 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 2.3% to trade at $37.99 a barrel. The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week is scheduled for release at 1:00 p.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today. The Spanish Ibex Index gained 1.8% and STOXX Europe 600 Index rose 1.5%. The French CAC 40 Index rose 1.6%, while German DAX 30 climbed 1.8% and London’s FTSE 100 rose 1.3%. Germany's trade balance surplus increased in September to EUR 17.8 billion, beating a consensus of EUR 15.8 billion.

Asian markets traded higher today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 2.12%, China’s Shanghai Composite gained 1.86%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 1.18% and India’s BSE Sensex rose 1.7%. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 traded higher by 1.8%. Japan’s Leading Index improved to 92.9, beating a consensus of 88.6.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at JP Morgan downgraded Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. RIGL from Overweight to Neutral.

Rigel Pharmaceuticals shares fell 4.4% to close at $2.62 on Friday.

Breaking News

• AstraZeneca plc AZN disclosed that its Calquence has been approved in the EU for the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia.
• Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN expanded its e-commerce logistics centers in Brazil to eight, Reuters reported on Monday.
• Elliott Management Corp. has acquired a stake in the Seattle-headquartered technology company F5 Networks Inc FFIV, according to the Wall Street Journal.
• In more trouble for the Chinese tech giant, Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd BABA-backed Indian grocer BigBasket suffered a massive data breach affecting a million users, Bloomberg reported.