A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Higher Ahead Of Powell; Crude Oil Jumps Over 5%

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade after the Dow Jones tumbled around 600 points in the previous session. Investors are awaiting earnings results from Dollar Tree, Inc. DLTR. American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. AEO and Abercrombie & Fitch Co. ANF.

The ADP national employment report for February will be released at 8:15 a.m. ET. Chicago Fed President Charles Evans is set to speak at 9:00 a.m. ET, while Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard will speak at 9:30 a.m. ET. Fed Chair Jerome Powell is set to testify to Congress on monetary policy at 10:00 a.m. ET. The Federal Open Market Committee will release its Beige Book report at 2:00 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 245 points to 33,512.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 34.50 points to 4,338.25. Futures for the Nasdaq index climbed 121 points to 14,126.50.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 5.7% to trade at $110.90 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures climbed 5.6% to trade at $109.19 a barrel. The American Petroleum Institute, late Tuesday, said US crude supplies dropped 6.1 million barrels last week. 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 80,697,920 with around 977,400 deaths. India reported a total of at least 42,938,590 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 28,811,160 cases.

Check out this: 4 Penny Stocks Insiders Are Buying

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mostly higher today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index gained 0.1%, while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index fell 0.1% and London’s FTSE 100 gained 0.6%. The French CAC 40 Index rose 0.3%, while German DAX gained 0.2%. Annual inflation rate in the Eurozone increased to a fresh record high of 5.8% in February from 5.1% in January. The unemployment rate in Germany fell to 5% in February from 5.1% in January. The number of people registered as unemployed in Spain declined by 11,394 from a month ago to 3.11 million during February. French government budget deficit narrowed to EUR 15.9 billion in January from EUR 21.9 billion in the previous month. House prices in the UK surged by 12.6% year-over-year in February.

Asian markets traded mostly lower today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.68%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped 1.84% and China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.13%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.3%, while India’s BSE SENSEX fell 1.4%. The IHS Markit India manufacturing PMI rose to 54.9 in February from 54.0 a month ago. The Australian economy grew 3.4% quarter-over-quarter in Q4, following a 1.9% fall in Q3.

Broker Recommendation

Evercore ISI Group upgraded Booking Holdings Inc. BKNG from In-Line to Outperform and raised the price target from $2,500 to $2,900.

Booking shares rose 1.1% to $2,095.00 in pre-market trading.

Check out this: Executives Buy Over $70M Of 4 Stocks

Breaking News

• salesforce.com, inc. CRM reported better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter and raised its FY23 sales guidance.
• The government of Ukraine has confirmed that it will conduct a cryptocurrency airdrop.
• Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company HPE reported better-than-expected earnings for its first quarter and raised its annual profit outlook.
• Apple Inc. AAPL said it had paused all product sales in Russia, citing "deep concerns" over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

Check out other breaking news here