A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Edge Higher Ahead Of Consumer Price Index

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade after the Nasdaq jumped more than 200 points in the previous session. Investors are awaiting earnings results from Shaw Communications Inc. SJR, Wipro Limited WIT and KB Home KBH.

The Consumer Price Index for December will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. For December, analysts expect a monthly gain of 0.4% in consumer prices with annual rate seen at 7.1% overall. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari is set to speak at 1:00 p.m. ET, while the Federal Open Market Committee will release its Beige Book report at 2:00 p.m. ET. The U.S. Treasury statement for December is scheduled for release at 2:00 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 36 points to 36,164.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 6.50 points to 4,711.50. Futures for the Nasdaq index surged 50 points to 15,881.00.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 63,390,870 with around 863,890 deaths. India reported a total of at least 36,070,510 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 22,630,140 cases.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.4% to trade at $84.09 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures gained 0.7% to trade at $81.77 a barrel. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories in the U.S. will be released at 10:30 a.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index climbed 0.3%, while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index rose 0.2% and London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.6%. The French CAC 40 Index gained 0.1%, while German DAX climbed 0.2%. Wholesale price inflation in Germany slowed to 16.1% in December from a record level of 16.6% in the previous month.

Asian markets traded higher today. Japan’s Nikkei climbed 1.92%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index jumped 2.79%, while China’s Shanghai Composite gained 0.84%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.7% and India’s BSE Sensex gained 0.8%. The gauge for Japanese service sector sentiment increased 0.1 point to 56.4 in December, while current account surplus decreased to JPY 897.3 billion in November from JPY 1,732.3 billion in the year-ago month. Auto sales in China declined 1.6% year-over-year to 2.79 million units in December, while China's annual inflation rate dropped to 1.5% in December from a 15-month high level of 2.3% a month ago. Chinese producer price inflation fell to 10.3% year-over-year in December.

Broker Recommendation

Keybanc maintained APA Corporation APA with an Overweight and raised the price target from $33 to $37.

APA shares rose 0.5% to $32.15 in pre-market trading.

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Breaking News

• Ally Financial Inc. ALLY reported up to $2 billion share buyback authorization. The company’s board also declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.30 per share, representing a 20% surge versus its previous quarterly dividend.
• Tesla Inc TSLA has secured the green light to build more test cars at Giga Berlin, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday, citing a spokeswoman for the environment ministry in the state of Brandenburg.
• Apple Inc AAPL supplier Foxconn-backed open-source electric vehicle platform Mobility In Harmony (MIH) has formed an alliance with the AI experts at Autoware Foundation.
• Integra LifeSciences Holdings Corporation IART released preliminary fourth quarter and full-year 2021 revenue results. Integra LifeSciences also said it is planning a $125 million share buyback as a part of a prior approval, with a repurchase authorization of up to $225 million.

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