A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Higher, Target Beats Q4 Estimates

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade.

US Services Purchasing Managers' Index for February will be released at 9:45 a.m. ET. New home sales report for December and the ISM's non-manufacturing index for February will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. The U.S. Treasury budget report for February is schedule for release at 2:00 p.m. ET. Boston Federal Reserve Bank President Eric Rosengren is set to speak in Boston, MA at 7:30 a.m. ET, while Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari will speak in St. Paul, MN at 9:30 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 29 points to 25,843, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 3.25 points to 2,794.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 8.75 points to 7,154.50.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 0.4 percent to trade at $65.41 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures fell 0.2 percent to trade at $56.48 a barrel.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mostly lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.1 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index dropping 0.1 percent and German DAX 30 index declined 0.1 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.3 percent, while French CAC 40 Index slipped 0.1 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.44 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.01 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index surged 0.88 percent and India’s BSE Sensex rose 1.05 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at BMO Capital downgraded Nightstar Therapeutics PLC NITE from Outperform to Market Perform and lowered the price target from $41 to $25.50.

Nightstar Therapeutics shares rose 66.1 percent to close at $25.18 on Monday.

Breaking News

• Target Corporation TGT reported better-than-expected results for its fourth quarter on Tuesday.
• salesforce.com, inc. CRM reported upbeat earnings and sales for its fourth quarter, but issued weak first-quarter earnings and sales guidance.
• InVitae Corp NVTA disclosed a $125 million common stock offering.
• Ctrip.Com International Ltd CTRP reported better-than-expected results for its fourth quarter on Monday.