A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Mostly Higher Ahead Of Earnings, Economic Data

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded mostly higher in early pre-market trade after settling at another record highs in the previous session. Investors are awaiting earnings results from Moderna, Inc. MRNA, ViacomCBS Inc. (NYSENA VIAC) and Airbnb, Inc. ABNB.

The Challenger job-cut report for October is scheduled for release at 7:30 a.m. ET, while data on international trade, initial jobless claims, nonfarm productivity and unit labor costs will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Vice Chairman for Supervision Randal Quarles will speak at 1:50 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 5 points to 36,030.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 4.50 points to 4,656.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index rose 58.75 points to 16,188.50.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 47,105,460 with around 770,850 deaths. India reported a total of at least 34,320,140 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 21,835,780 cases.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 1.3% to trade at $83.02 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.8% to trade at $81.48 a barrel. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on natural gas stocks in underground storage will be released at 10:30 a.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mostly lower today. The Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.7% and STOXX Europe 600 Index slipped 0.1%. The French CAC 40 Index climbed 0.5%, London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.4% while German DAX 30 gained 0.3%. The IHS Markit Eurozone services PMI was revised lower to 54.6 in October versus a preliminary estimate of 54.7, while composite PMI was revised lower to 54.2 from a preliminary level of 54.3. New car registrations in the UK dropped 24.6% year-over-year to 106,265 units in October. German services PMI dropped to 52.4 in October from 56.2 in September, while factory orders rose 1.3% in September. France services PMI rose to 56.6 in October from 56.2. Italy’s services PMI declined to 52.4 in October from 55.5 in the earlier month, while Spain services PMI dropped to 56.6 in October.

Asian markets traded higher today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.93%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 0.8% and China’s Shanghai Composite jumped 0.8%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.5%. Retail sales in Australia climbed 1.3% month-over-month in September, while trade surplus shrank to AUD 12.24 billion in September from a record high of AUD 14.74 billion. Japanese composite PMI rose to 50.7 in October from 47.9 a month ago.

Breaking News

• Booking Holdings Inc. BKNG reported upbeat earnings for the third quarter.
• Cryptocurrency exchange Binance is reportedly investigating the Squid Game SQUID/USD token in order to pursue the matter with law enforcement.
• Qualcomm Inc QCOM posted upbeat results for its recent quarter and issued a strong forecast for its current quarter.
• Tesla Inc TSLA Model S Plaid owner Ryan Huber has successfully replaced the ‘yoke’ steering wheel with that of a regular electric compact sedan Model 3, Electrek reported on Wednesday.

Check out other breaking news here