A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Edge Higher; Netflix Profit Misses Views

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded slightly higher in early pre-market trade as investors are awaiting earnings from Verizon Communications Inc VZ, Abbott Laboratories ABT and Tesla Inc TSLA. Wall Street closed higher in the prior session as the Covid-19 fiscal stimulus deal got closer.

The Federal Open Market Committee will release its latest Beige Book report at 2:00 p.m. ET. Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard is set to speak at 8:50 a.m. ET, while Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester will speak at 10:00 a.m. ET. Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Robert Kaplan and Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President Mary Daly will speak at 12:00 p.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Thomas Barkin will speak at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 25 points to 28,207 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded rose 5.50 points to 3,437.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index climbed 18 points to 11,678.75.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 8,274,790 with around 221,070 deaths. India reported a total of at least 7,651,100 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 5,273,950 cases.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 1.8% to trade at $42.39 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures fell 1.9% to trade at $40.90 a barrel. The American Petroleum Institute reported a rise of 584,000 barrels in U.S. crude supplies for the week ended October 16. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories in the U.S. is scheduled for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were lower today after closing mixed in the previous session. The Spanish Ibex Index fell 1.2% and STOXX Europe 600 Index dropped 1.2%. The French CAC 40 Index fell 1.5%, while German DAX 30 declined 1.3% and London’s FTSE 100 fell 1.6%. The Consumer Price Index for Britain rose 0.4% in September, missing the consensus of 0.5% growth. UK’s PPI output for September declined 0.1% month-over-month, while Retail Price Index rose 0.3%.

Asian markets traded mixed today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.31%, China’s Shanghai Composite slipped 0.09%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 0.75% and India’s BSE Sensex fell 0.4%. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 is trading higher by 0.12%. Retail sales in Australia fell 1.5% in September following a 4% decline in the previous month.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Raymond James upgraded Dave & Buster's Entertainment Inc PLAY from Outperform to Strong Buy and raised the price target from $20 to $25.

Dave & Buster's shares rose 1.4% to $19.06 in pre-market trading.

Breaking News

• Netflix Inc NFLX reported downbeat earnings for its third quarter, while sales exceeded views. The company added 2.2 million net memberships during the quarter, versus its own guidance of 2.5 million. Netflix is also planning to give subscribers a free trial of its streaming service for a weekend, TechCrunch reported Tuesday.
• Novartis AG NVS reported that it has received FDA Orphan Drug designation for Branaplam (LMI070) in Huntington's disease.
• Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. TMO reported better-than-expected results for its third quarter.
• Snap Inc SNAP reported upbeat earnings and sales for the third quarter. The company reported Q3 daily active users climbed 18% year-over-year to 249 million.