A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Edge Higher Ahead Of Apple Earnings

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded slightly higher in early pre-market trade, ahead of earnings from Apple Inc. AAPL, Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN, McDonald's Corporation MCD, The Kraft Heinz Company KHC, Twitter, Inc. TWTR and American Airlines Group Inc. AAL. Data on new unemployment claims for the latest week, the employment cost index for the first quarter and consumer spending for March will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The Chicago PMI for April is scheduled for release at 9:45 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 1,040,480 with around 60,990 deaths. Spain confirmed a total of over 236,890 cases, while Italy reported a total of at least 203,590 confirmed cases.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 43 points to 24,609 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded rose 2.75 points to 2,943.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index rose 43.25 points to 9,079.75.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 7.5% to trade at $26.05 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 14.6% to trade at $17.26 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.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mostly lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.2%, STOXX Europe 600 Index declining 0.2% and German DAX 30 index dropping 0.3%. The UK's FTSE index was trading lower by 0.4%, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.1%.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei rose 2.14%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.28%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.33% and India’s BSE Sensex rose 2.7%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at JP Morgan downgraded Zebra Technologies Corp. ZBRA from Overweight to Neutral and announced a $250 price target.

Zebra Technologies shares fell 0.4% to $243.89 in pre-market trading.

Breaking News

• Facebook, Inc. FB reported better-than-expected revenue for its first quarter, while earnings missed estimates. Daily active users rose 11% year-over-year, while monthly active users surged 10% year-over-year.
• Tesla Inc TSLA reported a surprise profit for its first quarter, also surpassing analysts’ estimates on Wednesday.
• Amarin Corporation plc AMRN reported upbeat results for its first quarter.
• Microsoft Corporation MSFT reported stronger-than-expected earnings and sales results for its third quarter.