A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Up Following Thursday's Plunge; Crude Oil Rises

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade ahead of the release of wholesale inventories data. The Dow Jones closed lower by more than 250 points on Thursday after jobless claims unexpectedly rose in the latest week.

Data on wholesale inventories for May will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Analysts expect wholesale inventories rising 1.0% in May following a 1.1% rise in the first estimate.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 135 points to 34,429.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 12.75 points 4,325.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 14.75 points to 14,727.00.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 33,790,500 with around 606,470 deaths. India reported a total of at least 30,752,950 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 18,962,760 cases.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.8% to trade at $74.69 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures gained 0.9% to trade at $73.62 a barrel. Crude stockpiles fell by 6.866 million barrels in the July 2nd week, the EIA said Thursday. The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week is scheduled for release at 1:00 p.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today. The Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.7% and STOXX Europe 600 Index climbed 0.9%. The French CAC 40 Index climbed 1.5%, London’s FTSE 100 gained 0.7% while German DAX 30 gained 0.8%. Construction output in the UK surged 56.5% year-over-year in May, while industrial production rose 0.8% month-over-month in May. The British economy expanded 3.6% during the three months to May. Italian industrial production fell 1.5% from the prior month in May.

Asian markets traded mostly lower today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.63%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.7% and China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.1%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.9% and India’s BSE Sensex slipped 0.3%. China's producer prices increased 8.8% annually in June following a 9.0% rise in the previous month, while annual inflation rate dropped to 1.1% in June. Auto sales in China dipped 12.4% year-over-year to 2.02 million units in June.

Broker Recommendation

Wedbush initiated coverage on General Motors Company GM with an Outperform rating and announced a price target of $85.

GM shares rose 2.2% to $57.29 in pre-market trading.

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Breaking News

• Levi Strauss & Co. LEVI reported better-than-expected results for its second quarter and issued a strong earnings forecast for the full year.
• Costco Wholesale Corporation COST reported sales of $18.92 billion for the retail month of June, up from $16.18 billion in the previous year.
• Nio Inc NIO now expects to have 700 battery swap stations online by the end of the year, 200 more than its previous estimates, the electric vehicle maker's president — Qin Lihong — said at the electric vehicle maker's Power Day event on Friday, as reported by cnEVpost..
• Matson Inc MATX issued strong preliminary results for its second quarter. The company said it sees Q2 earnings of $3.58 to $3.73 per share, versus analysts’ estimates of $2.23 per share.

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