A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Gain; Fed Policy Decision In Focus

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade ahead of policy decision from the Federal Reserve. The Nasdaq index dropped by more than 300 points on Tuesday. Investors are awaiting earnings results from AT&T Inc. T, The Boeing Company BA, Intel Corporation INTC, Tesla, Inc. TSLA and Abbott Laboratories ABT.

Data on wholesale inventories for December and U.S. international trade in goods for December will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Data on new home sales for December will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. The Federal Reserve will announce its policy decision at 2:00 p.m. ET, while Fed Chairman Jerome Powell will hold a press conference at 2:30 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 334 points to 34,519.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 57.25 points to 4,406.25. Futures for the Nasdaq index climbed 277.25 points to 14,418.00.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 73,449,180 with around 894,880 deaths. India reported a total of at least 40,085,110 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 24,334,070 cases.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.4% to trade at $87.51 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.3% to trade at $85.82 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.

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A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index gained 1.6%, while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index rose 2.1% and London’s FTSE 100 gained 1.6%. The French CAC 40 Index climbed 1.8%, while German DAX gained 1.9%. The consumer confidence index in France declined slightly by 1 point to a reading of 99 in January.

Asian markets traded mostly higher today. Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.44%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.19%, while China’s Shanghai Composite gained 0.66%. The index of coincident economic indicators in Japan slipped to 92.8 in November from a flash reading of 93.6, while index of leading economic indicators rose to 103.2 in November from a preliminary level of 103.0.

Broker Recommendation

Keybanc initiated coverage on KLA Corporation KLAC with an Overweight rating and announced a price target of $480.

KLA shares rose 1.8% to $376.70 in pre-market trading.

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Breaking News

• Microsoft Corporation MSFT reported better-than-expected results for its second quarter and issued strong forecast. The company said it sees Q3 More Personal Computing revenue of $14.15 billion to $14.45 billion.
• Ford Motor Co F has started production of its electric E-Transit cargo vans in Kansas City, Missouri, TechCrunch reported on Tuesday, citing a company executive.
• Texas Instruments Incorporated TXN reported better-than-expected results for its fourth quarter and issued strong guidance for the current quarter.
• U.S. listed Chinese electric vehicle maker Nio Inc NIO is exploring a secondary listing in Singapore as early as this year, cnEVpost reported.

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