A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Edge Up After S&P Hits Record High

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded slightly higher in early pre-market trade after the S&P 500 index jumped to a new high in the previous session following data on consumer price inflation and jobless claims. Investors are awaiting earnings results from Cheetah Mobile CMCM and Azure Power Global AZRE.

The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index for June is scheduled for release at 10:00 a.m. ET. The consumer sentiment index dropped over 5 points to 82.9 in May due to rising inflation expectations. Analysts, however, expect June's preliminary reading to rise slightly to 84.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 37 points to 34,498.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 2.75 points at 4,240.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index rose 6.75 points to 13,966.50.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 33,426,420 with around 598,740 deaths. India reported a total of at least 29,274,820 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 17,210,960 cases.

Oil prices traded slightly higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.1% to trade at $72.60 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.1% to trade at $70.36 a barrel. US natural gas supplies gained 98 billion cubic feet last week, the Energy Information Administration said Thursday. The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the recent week will be released at 1:00 p.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today. The Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.5% and STOXX Europe 600 Index gained 0.3%. The French CAC 40 Index rose 0.4%, London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.5% while German DAX 30 gained 0.1%. Spanish consumer prices increase 2.7% year-over-year in April, the most since February 2017. Wholesale prices in Germany climbed 9.7% year-over-year, notching the biggest surge since July 2008. British gross domestic product expanded by 1.5% during the three months to April, while trade deficit narrowed to GBP 0.9 billion in April compared to GBP 2 billion a month ago. Industrial production in the UK fell 1.3% in April.

Asian markets traded mixed today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.03%, while China’s Shanghai Composite dropped 0.58%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.36%, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.1% and India’s BSE Sensex climbed 0.4%. China's auto sales fell 3.1% year-over-year to 2.13 million units in May, recording the first monthly drop in 14 months.

Broker Recommendation

Needham initiated coverage on Tenable Holdings, Inc. TENB with a Buy rating and announced a price target of $51.

Tenable shares rose 0.1% to $43.01 in pre-market trading.

Check out other major ratings here

Breaking News

• SIGNA Sports United will go public via a merger with SPAC Yucaipa Acquisition Corp YAC. The deal values the company at an enterprise value of $3.2 billion.
• Dave & Buster's Entertainment Inc PLAY reported better-than-expected results for its first quarter and issued strong sales guidance for the current quarter.
• Nio Inc NIO said on Friday it has secured a key European Whole Vehicle Type Approval (EWVTA) for the electric seven-seater sports utility vehicle ES8, paving the way to officially launch the model in Norway and the European market at large.
• Zedge Inc ZDGE posted upbeat results for its third quarter and boosted its FY21 sales growth guidance.

Check out other breaking news here