A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Mostly Higher Ahead of Jobless Claims

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded mostly higher in early pre-market trade after Wall Street closed mostly flat in the previous session. Investors are awaiting earnings results from Conagra Brands Inc CAG, Constellation Brands, Inc. STZ and Levi Strauss & Co. LEVI.

Data on initial jobless claims for the latest week will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Analysts expect jobless claims to decline to 680,000 for the April 3rd week from 719,000 in the previous week. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard is set to speak at 11:00 a.m. ET, while Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will speak at 12:00 p.m. ET. Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari is set to speak at 2:00 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 7 points to 33,321.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 10.75 points at 4,080.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index rose 93 points to 13,697.75.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 30,921,970 with around 559,100 deaths. Brazil confirmed over 13,193,200 cases, while India reported a total of at least 12,801,780 confirmed cases.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 0.7% to trade at $62.70 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures fell 1% to trade at $59.17 a barrel. US crude oil inventories dropped 3.522 million barrels during the April 2nd week, the EIA said. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on natural gas stocks in underground storage is scheduled for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mostly higher today . The Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.1% and STOXX Europe 600 Index gained 0.4%. The French CAC 40 Index rose 0.4%, German DAX 30 gained 0.3% while London's FTSE 100 rose 0.4%. The IHS Markit Eurozone construction PMI rose to 50.1 in March from 45 in February. Germany construction PMI climbed to 47.5 in March from 41 in February, while factory orders rose 1.2% in February. French construction PMI surged to 49.7 from 44, while current account deficit widened to EUR 2.6 billion in February from a revised EUR 2 billion gap in the prior month. French trade deficit increased to EUR 5.25 billion in February from a revised EUR 4.2 billion gap in January.

Asian markets traded mostly higher today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.07%, China’s Shanghai Composite rose 0.08% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 1.15%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 1%, while India’s BSE Sensex rose 0.8%. The IHS Markit Hong Kong PMI rose to 50.5 in March 2021 from 50.2 in the previous month. Japanese current account surplus narrowed to JPY 2916.9 billion for February, compared to JPY 3060.5 billion in the year-ago period, while consumer confidence index rose by 2.2 points to 36.1 in March.

Broker Recommendation

Goldman Sachs upgraded Textron Inc TXT from Neutral to Buy and raised the price target from $45 to $71.

Textron shares rose 1.8% to $58.09 in pre-market trading.

Check out other major ratings here

Breaking News

• Costco Wholesale Corporation COST reported a 17.6% year-over-year surge in net sales for the retail month of March, the five weeks ended April 4, 2021. The company’s sales jumped to of $18.21 billion from $15.49 billion last year. 
• Tesla Inc. TSLA has ramped up its plan to enter the Indian market by scouting for locations to open showrooms and hiring an executive to lead its lobbying and business efforts, Reuters reported Wednesday, citing sources familiar with the discussion.
• Landec Corporation LNDC reported downbeat results for its third quarter and issued weak sales forecast for FY21.
• XPeng Inc. XPEV is working on developing dedicated chips for autonomous driving and could launch them by the end of this year or early next year, according to a report by 36kr.

Check out other breaking news here