A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Gain Ahead Of Economic Data, Fed Speakers

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade after the Dow Jones dipped more than 300 points in the previous session. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen are both set to testify before the Senate Banking Committee today. Investors are awaiting earnings results from General Mills, Inc. GIS, KB Home KBH, Worthington Industries, Inc. WOR and Winnebago Industries, Inc. WGO.

Data on durable goods orders for February will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, while the flash Composite Purchasing Managers' Index for March is scheduled for release at 9:45 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Thomas Barkin is set to speak at 8:50 a.m. ET, while Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams is set to speak at 1:35 p.m. ET. San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President Mary Daly will speak at 3:00 p.m. ET, while Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans is set to speak at 7:00 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 88 points to 32,394.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures gained 14.75 points at 3,914.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index rose 117.25 points to 13,123.50.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 29,922,390 with around 543,840 deaths. Brazil confirmed over 12,130,010 cases, while India reported a total of at least 11,734,050 confirmed cases.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 2.7% to trade at $62.47 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 2.9% to trade at $59.41 a barrel. The American Petroleum Institute, on Tuesday, reported a rise of 2.927 million barrels in crude oil inventories for the week ending March 19. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories in the U.S. will be released at 10:30 a.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were lower today. The Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.7% and STOXX Europe 600 Index slipped 0.1%. The French CAC 40 Index fell 0.2%, German DAX 30 dropped 0.4% while London's FTSE 100 fell 0.1%. The IHS Markit Eurozone manufacturing PMI climbed to a record high of 62.4 for March, while services PMI increased to 48.8 in March from 45.7 in the prior month. German composite PMI climbed to 56.8 in March from 51.1 in February, while French composite PMI surged to 49.5 from 47. UK producer prices rose 0.9% year-over-year in February, while annual inflation rate fell to 0.4% in February from 0.7% in January.

Asian markets traded mostly lower today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 2.04%, China’s Shanghai Composite declined 1.30% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 2.03%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.5%, while India’s BSE Sensex fell 1.6%. Japan’s services PMI rose to 46.5 in March from a final reading of 45.8 in February, while manufacturing PMI rose to 52.0 from 51.4. Australian composite output index rose to 56.2 in March versus 53.4 in the prior month.

Broker Recommendation

KeyBanc maintained BorgWarner Inc. BWA with an Overweight and raised the price target from $51 to $55..

BorgWarner shares fell 8% to close at $44.30 on Tuesday.

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Breaking News

• Adobe Inc ADBE reported better-than-expected results for its first quarter and raised its FY21 guidance.
• Johnson & Johnson’s JNJ COVID-19 vaccine is expected to get a significant supply boost after manufacturing partner Catalent Inc CTLT secured a key U.S. regulator clearance, Bloomberg News reported.
• GameStop Corp. GME reported downbeat earnings for its fourth quarter on Tuesday. The company’s e-commerce business continued to be the big news with a year-over-year increase of 175% in the fourth quarter and 191% for the full fiscal year.
• Tesla Inc TSLA CEO Elon Musk announced Wednesday that the automaker has begun accepting payments for its vehicles with Bitcoin.

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