A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Higher Ahead Of JPMorgan, Citigroup Earnings

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade after the Nasdaq tumbled 2.5% in the previous session. Investors are awaiting earnings results from JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM, Citigroup Inc. C and Wells Fargo & Company WFC.

Data on retail sales, import prices and export prices for December will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Data on industrial production for December will be released at 9:15 a.m. ET, while data on business inventories for November and University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index for January will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker is set to speak at 10:00 a.m. ET, while New York Fed President John Williams will speak at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 104 points to 36,093.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 12 points to 4,664.00. Futures for the Nasdaq index gained 33.75 points to 15,524.00.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 65,236,470 with around 869,210 deaths. India reported a total of at least 36,582,120 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 22,815,820 cases.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.9% to trade at $85.23 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures gained 0.6% to trade at $82.64 a barrel. The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week is scheduled for release at 1:00 p.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were lower today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index fell 0.6%, while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index fell 0.7% and London’s FTSE 100 slipped 0.1%. The French CAC 40 Index fell 0.7%, while German DAX dropped 0.7%. German economy expanded by 2.7% in 2021, rebounding from a 4.6% contraction in 2020. French government budget deficit widened to EUR 181.02 billion in January-November, compared to a EUR 176.85 billion gap in the year-ago period, while annual inflation rate was confirmed at 2.8% year-over-year for December. Spain's consumer prices increased 6.5% year-over-year in December. UK’s gross domestic product increased by 1.1% during the three months to November, while industrial production rose 1% from a month ago in November. UK’s exports of goods and services increased 4.6% from a month ago to a 22-month high of GBP 57.1 billion in November, while imports rose by 3.8% to an 11-month high of GBP 56.4 billion.

Asian markets traded lower today. Japan’s Nikkei fell 1.28%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.19%, while China’s Shanghai Composite fell 0.96%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 1.1% and India’s BSE Sensex slipped 0.1%. India’s annual wholesale price inflation rate fell to 13.56% in December from 14.23% in the prior month. Chinese trade surplus widened to a new record high of $94.46 billion in December from $75.8 billion in the same month a year ago. Producer prices in Japan climbed 8.5% from a year earlier in December.

Broker Recommendation

Keybanc upgraded Five Below, Inc. FIVE from Sector Weight to Overweight and announced a $230 price target.

Five Below shares rose 1.8% to $179.63 in pre-market trading.

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Breaking News

• Good Times Restaurants Inc. GTIM said same store sales fell 2.5% year-over-year for its Good Times brand for its first quarter ended December 28, 2021. Its same store sales, however, surged 24.0% for its Bad Daddy’s brand during the same period.
• Key Apple Inc AAPL supplier and the world’s largest chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd TSM plans to spend up to $44 billion in 2022 to expand capacity, Nikkei Asia reported on Thursday.
• Tesla Inc TSLA has begun to accept and denominate merchandise on its online shop in Dogecoin DOGE/USD.
• Artificial intelligence-focused fintech group Qraft Technologies Inc. said it has received a $146 million investment from Japanese conglomerate SoftBank Group Corp. SFTBY.

Check out other breaking news here