A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Rise Ahead Of Earnings, Economic Data

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade after the Nasdaq dropped around 1% in the previous session. Investors are awaiting earnings results from Citigroup C, Delta Air Lines DAL, Bank of America BAC, PepsiCo PEP and UnitedHealth Group UNH.

Data on initial jobless claims, retail sales, the Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index and the Empire State index will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Data on industrial production for March will be released at 9:15 a.m. ET, while data on business inventories for February and the housing market index for April will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic is set to speak at 11:30 a.m. ET, while Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President Mary Daly will speak at 2:00 p.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester is set to speak at 4:00 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 123 points to 33,747.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 19.75 points at 4,137.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index rose 85.75 points to 13,884.50.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 31,421,360 with around 564,400 deaths. India reported a total of at least 14,074,560 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 13,673,500 cases.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures fell 0.2% to trade at $66.44 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures fell 0.3% to trade at $66.44 a barrel. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on natural gas stocks in underground storage will be released at 10:30 a.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today . The Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.2% and STOXX Europe 600 Index gained 0.4%. The French CAC 40 Index rose 0.3%, German DAX 30 gained 0.3% while London's FTSE 100 rose 0.5%. The annual inflation rate in Italy rose to 0.8% in March from 0.6% in the earlier month, while French annual inflation rate increased to 1.1% in March from 0.6% in February. Consumer prices in Germany rose 1.7% year-over-year in March. Spain's trade deficit shrank sharply to EUR 1.08 billion in February.

Asian markets traded mostly higher today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.07%, China’s Shanghai Composite fell 0.52% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.37%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.5%, while India’s BSE Sensex rose 0.1%. India's wholesale prices increased 7.39% year-over-year in March. Australia's unemployment rate dropped to 5.6% in March from 5.8% a month ago.

Broker Recommendation

Needham initiated coverage on Teladoc Health, Inc. TDOC with a Buy rating and announced a price target of $235.

Teladoc Health shares rose 0.5% to $189.00 in pre-market trading.

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Breaking News

• Dell Technologies Inc DELL announced planned spin-off of 81% equity interest in VMware, Inc. VMW. Under the terms, VMware will distribute special cash dividend of $11.5 billion to $12 billion.
• Polestar, the premium Swedish electric car company owned by Volvo Cars Group and China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co GELYF said on Thursday it has raised $550 million from a group of long-term financial investors and is in talks with global investors to raise more funds.
• XPeng Inc. XPEV has confirmed it is exploring making its own dedicated chips for autonomous driving, CNBC reported.
• American Eagle Outfitters, Inc AEO said it sees Q1 sales of over $1 billion, versus the $904 million estimate.

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