A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Mixed Ahead Of Morgan Stanley Earnings

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded mixed in early pre-market trade after the Dow Jones jumped more than 300 points in the previous session. Investors are awaiting earnings results from Morgan Stanley MS, PNC Financial Services Group Inc PNC and Bank of New York Mellon Corp BK.

Data on housing starts and permits for March will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, while the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index for April is scheduled for release at 10:00 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Robert Kaplan is set to speak today.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 58 points to 33,981.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 3.75 points at 4,166.25. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index fell 19.50 points to 13,994.50.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 31,495,920 with around 565,280 deaths. India reported a total of at least 14,291,910 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 13,746,680 cases.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.4% to trade at $67.21 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.3% to trade at $63.67 a barrel. The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week will be released at 1:00 p.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today . The Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.9% and STOXX Europe 600 Index gained 0.6%. The French CAC 40 Index rose 0.6%, German DAX 30 gained 1% while London's FTSE 100 rose 0.7%. The consumer price inflation rate in the Eurozone was confirmed at 1.3% year-over-year in March, while trade surplus shrank to EUR 17.7 billion in February from EUR 23.4 billion in the year-ago month. Italy's trade surplus narrowed to EUR 4.75 billion for February from EUR 5.98 billion.

Asian markets traded higher today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.14%, China’s Shanghai Composite rose 0.81% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.61%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.1%, while India’s BSE Sensex rose 0.1%. China's retail trade jumped 34.2% year-over-year in March, while industrial production rose 14.1% year-over-year in March. The Chinese economy expanded 18.3% year-over-year in the March quarter.

Broker Recommendation

Piper Sandler upgraded Sunrun Inc. RUN from Neutral to Overweight and announced a $77 price target..

Sunrun shares rose 2.2% to $48.22 in pre-market trading.

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