A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Edge Higher; Inflation Data In Focus

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded slightly higher in early pre-market trade after the Dow Jones and Nasdaq dropped around 50 points each in the previous session. Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) surged to their new all-time highs Tuesday morning, as per market data provider CoinMarketCap. Investors are awaiting earnings results from Fastenal Company FAST and SeaChange International Inc SEAC.

The NFIB small business optimism index for March is scheduled for release at 6:00 a.m. ET, while the Consumer Price Index for March will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Annual rates are expected at 2.5% overall versus 1.7% overall rate in February. Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City President Esther George, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President Mary Daly, Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker and Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Thomas Barkin will speak at 12:00 p.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic is set to speak at 3:15 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 51 points to 33,682.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 4.25 points at 4,124.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index rose 3.50 points to 13,812.25.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 31,268,130 with around 562,530 deaths. India reported a total of at least 13,689,450 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 13,517,800 cases.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.5% to trade at $63.57 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.3% to trade at $59.89 a barrel. The API’s report on crude inventories will be released later during the day.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mostly higher today . The Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.1% and STOXX Europe 600 Index gained 0.2%. The French CAC 40 Index rose 0.3%, German DAX 30 gained 0.3% while London's FTSE 100 fell 0.1%. The Eurozone’s ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment fell by 7.7 points to 66.3 in April, while German ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment declined 5.9 points to 70.7 in April. Italy’s industrial production rose 0.2% in February, while wholesale prices in Germany rose 4.4% year-over-year in March. Imports to the UK climbed 12.9% to GBP 53.3 billion in February, while exports increased 5.4% to GBP 46.2 billion. Britain's GDP shrank by 1.6% during the three months to February, while industrial production rose 1% in February.

Asian markets traded mostly higher today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.72%, China’s Shanghai Composite fell 0.48% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.15%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.1%, while India’s BSE Sensex rose 1.2%. China's trade surplus shrank to $13.8 billion in March versus a $20.0 billion gap in the year-ago month. Australia’s NAB business confidence index dropped 3 points to a reading of 15 in March.

Broker Recommendation

Needham maintained Square, Inc. SQ with a Buy and raised the price target from $300 to $310.

Square shares rose 0.7% to $267.17 in pre-market trading.

Check out other major ratings here

Breaking News

• Simulations Plus Inc SLP reported upbeat earnings and sales for its second quarter on Monday.
• Digimarc Corp DMRC reported the retirement of its CEO Bruce Davis. The company named Riley McCormack as CEO.
• Nokia Oyj NOK said on Tuesday that China Mobile Cloud will use its Nuage Networks end-to-end solution for the deployment of its public cloud service.
• Essential Properties Realty Trust Inc EPRT reported primary public offering of 6.5 million shares of common stock.

Check out other breaking news here