A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Surge On Stimulus Hopes

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade on hopes of another fiscal stimulus before the Presidential election. Investors are awaiting earnings from Halliburton Company HAL, Lennox International Inc. LII, and IBM IBM. Wall Street closed mostly higher in the prior session despite stalled stimulus talks.

The NAHB housing market index for October will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Analysts expect the housing market index coming in unchanged from the previous month at 83 in October. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is set to speak at 8:00 a.m. ET, while Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Richard Clarida will speak at 11:45 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 226 points to 28,634 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded rose 29.80 points to 3,492.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 122.75 points to 11,920.75.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 8,154,930 with around 219,670 deaths. India reported a total of at least 7,550,270 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 5,224,360 cases.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.1% to trade at $42.99 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.2% to trade at $40.96 a barrel. The total number of active U.S. oil rigs rose by 12 to 205 rigs this week, Baker Hughes Inc reported Friday.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today after recording gains in the previous session. The Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.7% and STOXX Europe 600 Index gained 0.7%. The French CAC 40 Index climbed 0.9%, while German DAX 30 gained 0.7% and London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.4%. Eurozone construction output declined the least in six months, falling just 0.9% year-over-year in August.

Asian markets traded mostly higher today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.11%, China’s Shanghai Composite fell 0.71%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.7% and India’s BSE Sensex rose 0.9%. Japan’s trade surplus widened to 675 billion Yen from 248.6 billion Yen in August. China's third-quarter GDP surged 4.9% year-over-year missing the consensus of 5.2% growth, while the country’s industrial production in September grew 6.9% year-over-year.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Wedbush maintained Tesla, Inc. TSLA with a Neutral rating and raised the price target from $475 to $500.

Tesla shares rose 1.7% to $447.10 in pre-market trading.

Breaking News

• Canadian firm Cogeco Communications’s owners rejected an enhanced hostile takeover bid by Altice USA Inc ATUS.
• American Equity Investment Life Holding Company AEL, has agreed to a strategic partnership with Brookfield Asset Management Inc BAM, which will reinsure up to $10 billion of American Equity's fixed index annuity products, and acquire a 19.9% stake in the company at $37 per share..
• CVS Health Corp CVS announced plans to add 15,000 staffers on a priority basis, Bloomberg reported.
• Alibaba Group Holdings Limited BABA disclosed an additional $3.6 billion investment in Chinese supermarket operator Sun Art Retail Group on Sunday.