A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Mostly Flat Ahead Of PPI, Jobless Claims

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded mostly flat in early pre-market trade after closing slightly higher in the previous session. Investors are awaiting earnings results from Delta Air Lines, Inc. DAL.

Data on initial jobless claims for the latest week will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Analysts expect jobless claims declining to 205,000 for the January 8 week from 207,000 in the previous week. The Producer Price Index for December will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker is set to speak at 8:00 a.m. ET, while Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard will speak at 10:00 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Thomas Barkin is set to speak at 12:00 p.m. ET, while Chicago Fed President Charles Evans will speak at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 2 points to 36,158.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 1.25 points to 4,717.50. Futures for the Nasdaq index gained 5.75 points to 15,893.00.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 64,359,400 with around 866,890 deaths. India reported a total of at least 36,317,920 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 22,718,600 cases.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.3% to trade at $84.94 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures gained 0.2% to trade at $82.78 a barrel. US crude-oil inventories dropped 4.6 million barrels last week, the EIA said. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on natural gas stocks in underground storage is scheduled for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mostly lower today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index fell 0.1%, while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index rose 0.4% and London’s FTSE 100 slipped 0.1%. The French CAC 40 Index fell 0.3%, while German DAX dropped 0.1%. Italy’s industrial production rose 1.9% from a month ago in November following a revised 0.5% decline in the prior month.

Asian markets traded mixed today. Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.96%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.11%, while China’s Shanghai Composite fell 1.17%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.5% and India’s BSE Sensex gained 0.1%.

Broker Recommendation

Truist Securities initiated coverage on Costco Wholesale Corporation COST with a Buy rating and announced a price target of $606.

Costco shares rose 0.5% to $528.30 in pre-market trading.

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Breaking News

• Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd TSM released results for its fourth quarter on Thursday. The world’s largest chipmaker said its profit surged 16.4% to $5.98 billion, helped by rising demand for semiconductors.
• Volkswagen Group’s VWAGY global electric vehicle deliveries nearly doubled last year helped by sales of its ID.4 electric sports utility vehicle and the legacy automaker said it expects the first half of 2022 to be highly volatile due to chip shortages.
• KB Home KBH reported better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter on Wednesday. The company also said it sees FY22 housing revenues of $7.2 billion to $7.6 billion.
• Vaxcyte, Inc. PCVX reported pricing of $100 million public offering.

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