A Peek Into The Markets: U.S. Stock Futures Rise Ahead Of Economic Data

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade. The Chicago PMI for July is schedule for release at 9:45 a.m. ET, while the pending home sales index for June will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. The Dallas Fed manufacturing index for July is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 49 points to 21,824.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 2.75 points to 2,473.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 12.50 points to 5,923.75.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures rose 2.21 percent to trade at $52.63 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures declined 0.26 percent to trade at $49.58 a barrel.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.38 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index climbing 0.33 percent and German DAX 30 index gaining 0.28 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.31 percent, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.12 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.17 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 1.28 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.61 percent and India’s BSE Sensex rose 0.63 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at BMO Capital downgraded Citigroup Inc C from Outperform to Market Perform.

Citigroup shares rose 0.33 percent to $67.65 in pre-market trading.

Breaking news

• Discovery Communications Inc. DISCA announced plans to acquire Scripps Networks Interactive, Inc. SNI for $14.6 billion.



• Armstrong World Industries Inc AWI posted upbeat earnings for its second quarter on Monday.



• Roper Technologies Inc ROP posted upbeat earnings for its second quarter and raised its FY 2017 outlook.



• On Friday, Dynavax Technologies Corporation DVAX announced that the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration voted 12-1 in support of the company’s Hepatitis B vaccine, HEPLISAV-B. The vote was based solely on safety, but the panel previously supported the drug’s immunogenicity based on Phase 3 clinical trials.