A Peek Into The Markets: U.S. Stock Futures Rise Ahead Of Earnings

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade. Data on housing starts for September will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. New York Federal Reserve Bank President William Dudley and Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Robert Kaplan will speak in New York at 8:00 a.m. ET. The Federal Reserve will release its latest Beige Book report at 2:00 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 72 points to 23,023.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 3.75 points to 2,560.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 4.50 points to 6,128.25.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.57 percent to trade at $58.21 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures gained 0.33 percent to trade at $52.05 a barrel. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories in the U.S. is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mostly higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.01 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index rising 0.44 percent and German DAX 30 index gaining 0.49 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.39 percent, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.56 percent.

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In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.13 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.05 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index climbed 0.29 percent and India’s BSE Sensex slipped 0.08 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Piper Jaffray downgraded Ulta Beauty Inc ULTA from Overweight to Neutral.

Ulta Beauty shares fell 2.12 percent to $198.00 in pre-market trading.

Breaking news

• U.S. Bancorp USB reported in-line earnings for its third quarter.



• International Business Machines Corp. IBM reported stronger-than-expected results for its third quarter. Q3 EPS came in at $3.30, beating estimates by 2 cents. Sales came in at $19.2 billion, ahead of estimates by $600 million.



• SUPERVALU INC. SVU reported upbeat earnings for its third quarter and announced an agreement to acquire Associated Grocers of Florida for $180 million.



• Select Comfort Corp. SCSS posted weaker-than-expected Q3 results and narrowed FY17 guidance.