A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Gain Following Monday's Sell-Off

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade after the Dow Jones dipped more than 400 points in the previous session. Investors are awaiting earnings results from General Mills, Inc. GIS, FactSet Research Systems Inc. FDS and BlackBerry Limited BB.

The current account report for the third quarter is scheduled for release at 8:30 a.m. ET. After a $190.3 billion gap in the second quarter, analysts expect a bigger deficit of $204.8 billion for the third quarter.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 227 points to 35,040.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 31.50 points to 4,590.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index surged 134.50 points to 15,755.75.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 52,059,660 with around 828,830 deaths. India reported a total of at least 34,752,160 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 22,215,850 cases.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.7% to trade at $72.04 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 1.1% to trade at $69.34 a barrel. The API’s report on crude oil stocks will be released later during the day.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today. The Spanish Ibex Index rose 1.2% and STOXX Europe 600 Index gained 0.8%. The French CAC 40 Index rose 0.4%, London’s FTSE 100 gained 0.9% while German DAX 30 gained 0.6%. The GfK Consumer Confidence indicator for the United Kingdom declined to -15 in December compared to -14 a month ago. Producer prices in Italy climbed 22.1% year-over-year in November, while industrial sales increased 2.8% over a month earlier in October. The GfK Consumer Climate Indicator in Germany fell to -6.8 heading into January versus a revised reading of -1.8 in December.

Asian markets traded higher today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped 2.08%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 1% and China’s Shanghai Composite gained 0.88%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.9%, while India’s BSE Sensex climbed 0.9%.

Broker Recommendation

JP Morgan downgraded Cigna Corporation CI from Overweight to Neutral and announced a $248 price target..

Cigna shares fell 0.1% to $216.70 in pre-market trading.

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Breaking News

• NIKE, Inc. NKE reported stronger-than-expected results for its second quarter on Monday.
• Food poisoning at a factory in India that manufactures Apple Inc’s AAPL iPhones reportedly led to protests and subsequent detention of 70 women and 22 men.
• Micron Technology MU reported upbeat results for its first quarter and issued strong revenue guidance for the current quarter.
• Social media platform Parler announced Monday it was expanding its portfolio to include non fungible tokens or NFT marketplaces.

Check out other breaking news here