A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Up Ahead Of Walmart, Home Depot Earnings

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade ahead of earnings from some major companies. The Dow Jones fell 50 points in the previous session after the Wall street recorded its worst week since February 26. Investors are awaiting earnings results from The Home Depot, Inc. HD, Walmart Inc. WMT and Macy's, Inc. M.

Data on housing starts and permits for April will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic is set to speak at 11:00 a.m. ET, while Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan will speak at 11:05 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 77 points to 34,333.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures gained 13.75 points at 4,171.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index rose 103.75 points to 13,407.25.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 32,994,440 with around 586,350 deaths. India reported a total of at least 25,228,990 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 15,657,390 cases.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.8% to trade at $69.98 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.7% to trade at $66.70 a barrel. The API’s report on crude oil will be released later during the day.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today. The Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.3% and STOXX Europe 600 Index climbed 0.4%. The French CAC 40 Index rose 0.3%, London’s FTSE 100 gained 0.3% while German DAX 30 gained 0.4%. The Eurozone economy contracted 0.6% on quarter in January-March, while trade surplus shrank to EUR 15.8 billion in March from EUR 29.9 billion in the year-ago month. Italy's trade surplus shrank to EUR 5.19 billion in March from EUR 5.70 billion. Labor productivity in the UK increased 0.8% on quarter during the first three months of the year, while unemployment rate dropped to 4.8% in the three months to March.

Asian markets traded higher today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 2.09%, while China’s Shanghai Composite climbed 0.32%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 1.42%, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.6% and India’s BSE Sensex jumped 1.3%. Japan's economy contracted at an annualized rate of 5.1% during the first quarter.

Broker Recommendation

Keybanc initiated coverage on Agiliti, Inc. AGTI with an Overweight rating and announced a price target of $21.

Agiliti shares rose 7.8% to close at $14.73 on Monday.

Check out other major ratings here

Breaking News

• Amazon.com, Inc AMZN is in talks to acquire MGM movie studio, which could give a significant boost to the latter’s entertainment portfolio, as per reports. The discussions were reported by The Information on Monday (via AppleInsider).
• XpresSpa Group, Inc. XSPA reported a narrower net loss for its first quarter, while sales exceeded estimates.
• A consortium led by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Limited BABA has invested $400 million in the consumer retail arm of Vietnamese conglomerate Masan Group Corp.
• Ultralife Corporation ULBI disclosed that it was awarded an IDIQ contract under the US Army's $1.25 billion conformal wearable battery program.

Check out other breaking news here