Dow, Nasdaq Futures Surge Ahead Of Jackson Hole Symposium

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade on Thursday ahead of the three-day Jackson Hole economic symposium starting today, with Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell scheduled to speak on Friday. Investors are awaiting earnings results from Dollar General Corporation DG, Dollar Tree, Inc. DLTR and Dell Technologies Inc. DELL.

Data on Gross Domestic Product and initial jobless claims will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The Kansas City Fed manufacturing index for August is scheduled for release at 11:00 a.m. ET.

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Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 181 points to 33,139.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 32.75 points to 4,175.50. Futures for the Nasdaq index rose 119.75 points to 13,049.50.

Oil prices traded slightly higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.2% to trade at $100.56 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.2% to trade at $95.09 a barrel. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on natural gas stocks in underground storage 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 95,734,080 with around 1,067,540 deaths. India reported a total of at least 44,378,920 confirmed cases, while France confirmed over 34,408,900 cases.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index climbed 0.7%, London’s FTSE 100 gained 0.8% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index rose 0.7%. The French CAC 40 Index rose 0.6%, while German DAX gained 0.8%.

The Ifo Business Climate indicator for Germany fell to 88.5 in August versus a revised 88.7 in July, while the country’s economy unexpectedly grew 0.1% on quarter in the second quarter. Manufacturing climate indicator in France declined for a second month to a reading of 104 in August. UK’s car production surged 8.6% from a year ago to 58,043 units in July. Spanish annual producer inflation declined to 40.4% in July from a revised 43.1% annual surge in the prior month.

Asian markets traded higher today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.58%, China’s Shanghai Composite rose 0.97%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index jumped 3.63%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.7%, while India’s S&P BSE SENSEX rose 0.6%.

Broker Recommendation

Credit Suisse initiated coverage on Illumina ILMN with a Neutral rating and announced a price target of $230.

Illumina shares rose 0.4% to $211.50 in pre-market trading.

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Breaking News

• NVIDIA Corporation NVDA reported weaker-than-expected results for its second quarter on Wednesday. Nvidia is guiding for third-quarter revenue of $5.9 billion plus or minus 2%.
• Twitter, Inc. TWTR whistleblower Peiter Zatko will testify before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee next month regarding his complaint that the social media platform misled regulators, Reuters reported.
• Salesforce Inc CRM reported upbeat results for its second quarter, but lowered its annual projections.
• Singapore Telecommunications Limited SGAPY has announced it will sell a 3.3% stake in Indian telecom player Airtel to Bharti Telecom, for approximately S$2.25 billion ($1.61 billion), as part of its capital recycling strategy.

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