A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Edge Higher; Facebook Earnings In Focus

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded slightly higher in early pre-market trade after the Dow Jones closed at a fresh high in the previous session. Investors are awaiting earnings results from Facebook, Inc. FB, Lennox International Inc. LII and Kimberly Clark Corp KMB.

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index for September is scheduled for release at 8:30 a.m. ET, while the Dallas Fed manufacturing index for October will be released at 10:30 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 22 points to 35,579.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures gained 6 points to 4,542.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 30.25 points to 15,371.25.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 46,312,780 with around 756,360 deaths. India reported a total of at least 34,189,770 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 21,729,760 cases.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.9% to trade at $85.36 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.8% to trade at $84.44 a barrel. The total number of active U.S. oil rigs fell by 2 rigs last week, Baker Hughes Inc reported Friday.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mixed today. The Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.1% and STOXX Europe 600 Index slipped 0.1%. The French CAC 40 Index fell 0.1%, London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.5% while German DAX 30 gained 0.2%. The IHS Markit services PMI for Eurozone declined to 54.7 in October from 56.4 in the earlier month, while manufacturing PMI slipped to 58.5 from 58.6. The Ifo Business Climate indicator for Germany fell to 97.7 in October, recording the weakest level since April.

Asian markets traded mostly higher today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.71%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.02% and China’s Shanghai Composite gained 0.76%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.3%, while India’s BSE Sensex rose 0.2%. The index of coincident economic indicators in Japan fell to 91.3 in August from a final reading of 94.4 a month ago, while index of leading economic declined to 101.3 in August from 104.1.

Broker Recommendation

Keybanc maintained Microsoft Corporation MSFT with a Overweight and raised the price target from $342 to $365.

Microsoft shares rose 0.3% to $310.10 in pre-market trading.

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Breaking News

• Tesla Inc TSLA CEO Elon Musk said the electric vehicle maker has rolled back the latest version of full self-driving (FSD) beta software a day after it was released.
• Key Apple Inc AAPL supplier Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd HNHPF and an Indonesian government agency last week held discussions related to a possible electric vehicle investment in the country, Nikkei Asia reported on Sunday.
• J M Smucker Co SJM authorized an increase in buyback by 5 million shares. The company’s board also approved a dividend of $0.99 per share.
• After a delay of several weeks, the Central Bank of Nigeria is launching a digital currency that will complement the country’s physical money.

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