A Peek Into The Markets: U.S. Stock Futures Rise; All Eyes On Fed Minutes

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade. Data on housing starts for July will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The Federal Open Market Committee will issue minutes of its latest meeting at 2:00 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 47 points to 22,024.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 5.25 points to 2,469.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 14.75 points to 5,927.00.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.43 percent to trade at $51.02 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures gained 0.29 percent to trade at $47.69 a barrel. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories in the U.S. is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.69 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index climbing 0.79 percent and German DAX 30 index gaining 0.84 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.68 percent, while French CAC 40 Index rose 1.05 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.12 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.86 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index dropped 0.15 percent and India’s BSE Sensex rose 1.02 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Susquehanna downgraded Dicks Sporting Goods Inc DKS from Positive to Neutral.

Dick's Sporting shares rose 0.15 percent to $26.91 in pre-market trading.

Breaking news

• Target Corporation TGT reported better-than-expected earnings for its second quarter and issued a strong forecast for the full year.



• Urban Outfitters, Inc. URBN reported stronger-than-expected results for its second quarter.



• Agilent Technologies Inc A reported better-than-expected results for its third quarter and issued a strong forecast for its full year.



• Exelixis, Inc. EXEL disclosed that it has submitted U.S. supplemental New Drug Application to the FDA for CABOMETYX.