A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Up; Disney Beats Q3 Views

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade after markets closed slightly higher in the previous session following the release of jobless claims and producer price data. Investors are awaiting earnings results from DXP Enterprises, Inc. DXPE and Diversey Holdings Ltd DSEY.

Data on import and export prices for July will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Analysts expect import prices rising a monthly 0.6% in July following a 1.0% increase in June. Export prices are likely to rise 0.8% following a 1.2% increase in the prior month. The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index for August is scheduled for release at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 46 points to 35,448.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 4 points to 4,458.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 13.25 points to 15,091.75.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 36,306,910 with around 619,090 deaths. India reported a total of at least 32,117,820 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 20,285,060 cases.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 0.6% to trade at $70.86 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures slipped 0.8% to trade at $68.53 a barrel. US natural-gas supplies climbed 49 billion cubic feet last week, the Energy Information Administration said Thursday. The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest 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 0.3% and STOXX Europe 600 Index gained 0.2%. The French CAC 40 Index rose 0.3%, London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.4% while German DAX 30 gained 0.4%. The consumer price inflation rate in France was confirmed at 1.2% year-over-year in July, while unemployment rate slipped to 8.0% in the second quarter from 8.1% in the prior period. Wholesale prices in Germany surged 11.3% year-over-year in July.

Asian markets traded mixed today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.14%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.48%, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.24%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.5% and India’s BSE Sensex climbed 1%. Total passenger vehicles sales in India rose 14.2% from the earlier month to 264,442 units for July. New home sales in Australia dipped 20.5% to the lowest level in three months in July.

Broker Recommendation

Barclays upgraded Upstart Holdings, Inc. UPST from Equal-Weight to Overweight and raised the price target from $130 to $230.

Upstart shares rose 1.6% to $181.00 in pre-market trading.

Check out other major ratings here

Breaking News

• Walt Disney Co DIS reported upbeat results for its third quarter on Thursday. The company said Disney+ paid subscribers increased to 116 million from 57.5 million in the year-ago period and up from the 103.6 million reported in the second quarter. Disney’s Parks, Experiences and Products segment had revenue of $4.34 billion, up over 100% year-over-year.
• Airbnb Inc ABNB reported better-than-expected results for its second quarter on Thursday. However, the company warned, "In the near term, we anticipate that the impact of Covid-19 and the introduction and spread of new variants of the virus, including the delta variant, will continue to affect overall travel behavior, including how often and when guests book and cancel."
• China's Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd, a battery supplier to Tesla Inc TSLA and Nio Inc NIO, is planning to raise up to $9 billion in a private share placement, Reuters reported.
• Co-Diagnostics Inc CODX reported upbeat results for its second quarter.

Check out other breaking news here