A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Mixed Ahead of Fed Minutes

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded mixed in early pre-market trade after the Wall Street closed mixed in the previous session. Investors are awaiting earnings results from Advance Auto Parts, Inc. AAP, Donaldson Company, Inc. DCI, NetApp Inc. NTAP and PVH Corp. PVH.

The Federal Open Market Committee will release its Beige Book report at 2:00 p.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans is set to speak at 12:00 p.m. ET, while Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker will speak at 12:00 p.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Robert Kaplan is set to speak at 6:05 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 42 points to 34,592.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 0.50 points at 4,199.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index declined 13 points to 13,635.75.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 33,287,570 with around 595,210 deaths. India reported a total of at least 28,307,830 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 16,624,480 cases.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.4% to trade at $70.55 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.3% to trade at $67.92 a barrel. The API’s report on crude oil stocks will be released later during the day.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mixed today. The Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.2% and STOXX Europe 600 Index gained 0.1%. The French CAC 40 Index fell 0.1%, London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.3% while German DAX 30 slipped 0.1%. French government budget deficit narrowed to EUR 91.37 billion during the first four months of the year, compared to EUR 92.12 billion a year ago. Retail sales in Germany fell 5.5% in April, versus a 7.7% surge in March.

Asian markets traded mixed today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.46%, while China’s Shanghai Composite fell 0.76%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.85%, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 climbed 1.1% and India’s BSE Sensex fell 0.9%. The Australian economy grew 1.8% quarter-over-quarter in the three months to March.

Broker Recommendation

HC Wainwright & Co. initiated coverage on Altimmune, Inc. ALT with a Buy rating and announced a price target of $35.

Altimmune shares fell 1.5% to close at $12.46 on Tuesday.

Breaking News

• Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co HPE reported better-than-expected results for its second quarter on Tuesday. The company also said it expects FY21 non-GAAP earnings of $1.82 to $1.94 per share.
• Xpeng Inc XPEV is on track to meet or beat second-quarter deliveries, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.
• Zoom Video Communications Inc ZM reported upbeat results for its first quarter and lifted its forecast for the year.
• Stealth BioTherapeutics Corp MITO said it received orphan drug designation from the European Medicines Agency for elamipretide for the treatment of Barth syndrome.

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