A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Edge Higher Ahead Of Economic Data, Fed Minutes

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded slightly higher in early pre-market trade after the Dow Jones jumped more than 400 points in the previous session. Investors are awaiting earnings results from The Kraft Heinz Company KHC, Cisco Systems, Inc. CSCO and NVIDIA Corporation NVDA.

Data on retail sales, import and export prices for January will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Data on industrial production for January will be released at 9:15 a.m. ET, while data on business inventories for December and housing market index for February will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari is set to speak at 11:00 a.m. ET, while the Federal Open Market Committee will issue minutes of its latest meeting at 2:00 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 18 points to 34,922.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 1.50 points to 4,466. Futures for the Nasdaq index climbed 4.75 points to 14,614.25.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.9% to trade at $94.14 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.9% to trade at $92.86 a barrel. US crude oil inventories fell 1.1 million in the latest week, the API said Tuesday. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories in the U.S. is scheduled for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 79,639,930 with around 949,260 deaths. India reported a total of at least 42,723,550 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 27,664,950 cases.

Also check out: ZoomInfo And 3 Other Stocks Sold By Insiders

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mostly higher today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index gained 0.3%, while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index rose 0.4% and London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.1%. The French CAC 40 Index climbed 0.3%, while German DAX gained 0.3%. Annual inflation rate in the UK rose to 5.5% in January from 5.4% in December, while headline rate of output prices in the country accelerated to 9.9% year-over-year in January.

Asian markets traded mostly higher today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 2.22%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 1.5% and China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.6%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.1%, while India’s BSE SENSEX fell 0.4%. The Westpac-Melbourne Institute Leading Economic Index in Australia increased 0.1% year-over-year in January. China's annual inflation rate declined to 0.9% in January from 1.5% a month ago, while producer price inflation fell to 9.1% year-over-year in January.

Broker Recommendation

Piper Sandler downgraded Celanese Corporation CE from Overweight to Neutral and lowered the price target from $200 to $180.

Celanese shares rose 2.7% to close at $158.31 on Tuesday.

Check out this: Insiders Buy Around $112M Of 3 Stocks

Breaking News

• Airbnb, Inc. ABNB posted upbeat results for its fourth quarter and issued strong Q1 sales guidance.
• AstraZeneca PLC AZN said Saphnelo has been approved in the European Union for the treatment of moderate to severe systemic lupus erythematosus.
• ZoomInfo Technologies Inc. ZI reported better-than-expected earnings and sale results for its fourth quarter. The company said it sees Q1 adjusted EPS of $0.14 to $0.15, versus analysts’ estimates of $0.15.
• ViacomCBS Inc VIAC reported fourth-quarter earnings of 26 cents per share, representing a 75% decrease over earnings of $1.04 per share from the same period last year.

Check out other breaking news here