A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Mostly Higher; Crude Oil Up 2%

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded mostly higher in early pre-market trade after the Nasdaq dropped close to 300 points in the previous session. Investors are awaiting earnings results from Science Applications International Corporation SAIC and HealthEquity, Inc. HQY.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 153 points to 34,719.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 9.75 points to 4,547.25. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index fell 32.25 points to 15,685.50.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 49,969,850 with around 808,760 deaths. India reported a total of at least 34,641,560 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 22,143,090 cases.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures gained 2.1% to trade at $71.35 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 2.4% to trade at $67.84 a barrel. The total number of active U.S. oil rigs came in unchanged at 467 rigs this week, Baker Hughes Inc reported Friday.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today. The Spanish Ibex Index rose 1% and STOXX Europe 600 Index gained 0.7%. The French CAC 40 Index climbed 0.6%, London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.8% while German DAX 30 climbed 0.9%. The IHS Markit Eurozone construction PMI climbed to 53.3 in November from 51.2 in October, while German construction PMI rose to 47.9 in November from 47.7 a month ago. New orders for German manufactured goods dropped 6.9% in October. The IHS Markit Italy construction PMI surged to 65.5 in November from 58.6 in the previous month, while French construction PMI rose to 51.6 in November from 50.3.

Asian markets traded mostly lower today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.36%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slipped 1.76% and China’s Shanghai Composite fell 0.5%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.1%, while India’s BSE Sensex fell 1.1%. Job advertisements in Australia climbed 7.4% in November.

Broker Recommendation

Evercore ISI Group upgraded Boston Properties, Inc. BXP from In-Line to Outperform.

Boston Properties shares fell 0.2% to close at $110.22 on Friday.

Check out other major ratings here

Breaking News

• Alibaba Group Holding Limited BABA reported that it has named Toby Xu as new CFO, effective April 1, 2022, replacing Maggie Wu. The company also announced a reorganization of its e-commerce business.
• Amgen Inc. AMGN boosted its quarterly dividend from $1.76 to $1.94 per share.
• Nio Inc NIO named Europe’s car rental company LeasePlan as its preferred operational leasing partner for its electric cars in Norway.
• An activist investor has urged department store chain Kohl’s Corp. KSS to consider a sale of the company or a separation of its e-commerce business, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Check out other breaking news here