A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Gain; Goldman Sachs Earnings In Focus

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade after the Dow Jones surged more than 500 points in the previous session. Investors are awaiting earnings results from Goldman Sachs Group GS, PNC Financial Services Group PNC, Charles Schwab SCHW and JB Hunt Transport Services JBHT.

Data on retail sales for September, the Empire State manufacturing index for September and import and export prices for September will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Data on business inventories for August and the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index for October will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard is set to speak at 11:45 a.m. ET, while Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams will speak at 12:20 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 117 points to 34,901.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures gained 11.25 points to 4,440.25. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index rose 27.75 points to 15,065.00.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 45,639,010 with around 741,890 deaths. India reported a total of at least 34,037,590 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 21,612,230 cases.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.9% to trade at $84.75 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.9% to trade at $82.00 a barrel. Commercial crude oil inventories in the US rose by 6 million barrels in the week ending October 8, the Energy Information Administration said. 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 0.5% and STOXX Europe 600 Index climbed 0.3%. The French CAC 40 Index climbed 0.3%, London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.1% while German DAX 30 gained 0.3%. The Eurozone trade surplus shrank to EUR 4.8 billion in August compared to EUR 14.0 billion in the year-ago period, while passenger car registrations dipped by 23.1% year-over-year to 718,598 thousand units in September. Italy’s trade surplus shrank to EUR 1.316 billion in August from EUR 3.929 billion in the year-ago month, while annual inflation rate increased to 2.5% in September from 2% in August. French consumer price inflation rate rose to 2.2% year-over-year in September from a preliminary reading of 2.1%.

Asian markets traded higher today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.81%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 1.48% and China’s Shanghai Composite rose 0.40%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.7% and India’s BSE Sensex gained 0.9%. Total passenger vehicles sales in India declined 31.1% from the prior month to 160,070 units in September.

Broker Recommendation

Goldman Sachs upgraded Broadcom Inc. AVGO from Neutral to Buy.

Broadcom shares rose 1.5% to $505.00 in pre-market trading.

Check out other major ratings here

Breaking News

• Toyota Motor Corp TM slashed its global production target for November by 15% due to the pandemic-triggered parts crisis. Toyota cut the production target from 1 million units to 850,000 - 900,000 units.
• Marriott International Inc MAR has signed a franchise agreement with Hotéis Deville for the first Westin Hotels & Resorts in São Paulo, Brazil.
• Alcoa Corp AA reported better-than-expected results for its third quarter. The company announced a $500 million buyback program and initiated a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share.
• Nio Inc – ADR NIO said it would be able to double annual production capacity at its Hefei facility in 2022, cnEVpost reported.

Check out other breaking news here