US Stock Futures Higher After Recording Losses For Third Straight Week

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade after the Dow Jones closed lower by more than 300 points on Friday despite upbeat nonfarm payrolls data. The US economy added 315,000 jobs last month, beating average economist estimates of 298,000 jobs. The U.S. unemployment rate, however, increased to 3.7%, missing the 3.5% level economists had projected. Wages were up 5.2% year-over-year and increased 0.3% from July.

All the three major indices recorded their third weekly loss in a row, with the Dow dropping around 3%, and the S&P 500 down around 3.3%. Equity markets in the US were closed on Monday for the Labor Day holiday.

U.S. Services Purchasing Managers' Index for August is scheduled for release at 9:45 a.m. ET, while the ISM services index for August will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. The ISM services index is expected to decline to 55.1 in August from previous reading of 56.7.

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Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 171 points to 31,483.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 21.50 points to 3,946.00. Futures for the Nasdaq index rose 71.50 points to 12,175.75.

Oil prices traded mostly higher as Brent crude futures fell 0.2% to trade at $95.52 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 2.6% to trade at $89.11 a barrel.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 96,643,170 with around 1,072,970 deaths. India reported a total of at least 44,466,860 confirmed cases, while France confirmed over 34,596,180 cases.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index gained 0.2%, London’s FTSE 100 gained 0.3% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index rose 0.4%. The French CAC 40 Index rose 0.1%, while German DAX gained 0.3%.

The S&P Global Eurozone construction PMI dropped to 44.2 in August from 45.7 in the prior month. The S&P Global German construction PMI dropped to 42.6 in August from 43.7 in the previous month, while factory orders in the country dropped 1.1% month-over-month in July. French construction PMI slipped to 48.2 in August from 48.6 a month ago. Retail sales in the UK rose by 0.5% on a like-for-like basis during August from a year earlier, compared to a 1.6% increase in July.

Asian markets traded mixed today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.02%, China’s Shanghai Composite rose 1.36%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.05%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.4%, while India’s S&P BSE SENSEX rose 0.3%.

The Reserve Bank of Australia increased the cash rate by 50bps to 2.35% at its September meeting. Australian current account surplus increased to AUD 18.3 billion in the second quarter versus AUD 2.8 billion during the previous period. Nominal wages in Japan surged 1.8% from a year ago in July.

Broker Recommendation

Keybanc maintained Carrier Global Corporation CARR with an Overweight and raised the price target from $44 to $45.

Carrier Global shares fell 2% to $38.78 in pre-market trading.

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