A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Signal Higher Start On Wall Street

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade, ahead of earnings from Procter & Gamble Co PG and Schlumberger Limited SLB. President Donald Trump announced federal guidelines for the phased reopening of the economy on a state-by-state basis Thursday. The index of leading economic indicators for March is scheduled for release at 10:00 a.m. ET.

The U.S. is now the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic with the highest number of cases and deaths around the world. Total COVID-19 cases in the U.S. exceeded 671,420 with around 33,280 deaths. Spain confirmed a total of over 184,940 cases, while Italy reported a total of at least 168,940 confirmed cases.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 679 points to 24,086 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded rose 75.1 points to 2,862.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index surged 171.75 points to 8,906.00.

Oil prices traded mostly lower as Brent crude futures rose 0.2% to trade at $27.88 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures fell 7.9% to trade at $18.31 a barrel. The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week will be released at 1:00 p.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 2.6%, STOXX Europe 600 Index climbing 2.5% and German DAX 30 index gaining 3.1%. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 2.4%, while French CAC 40 Index rose 3.5%.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei rose 3.15%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 1.56%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.66% and India’s BSE Sensex rose 2.1%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at KeyBanc downgraded Cisco Systems, Inc. CSCO from Overweight to Sector Weight.

Cisco shares rose 1.5% to $42.14 in pre-market trading.

Breaking News

• Intuitive Surgical, Inc. ISRG reported better-than-expected results for its first quarter.
• Apple Inc. AAPL announced plans to reopen its store in Seoul, South Korea -- the first store to reopen outside China.
• Lululemon Athletica Inc LULU disclosed that Patrick Guido will resign as CFO.
• Cutera, Inc. CUTR reported a proposed public offering of common stock.