A Peek Into The Markets: U.S. Stock Futures Signal Higher Start On Wall Street

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 109 points to 21,887.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 11.50 points to 2,472.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index climbed 39.75 points to 5,964.25.

Oil prices traded mixed as Brent crude futures fell 0.33 percent to trade at $53.60 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures gained 0.61 percent to trade at $47.77 a barrel.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 1.55 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index climbing 0.94 percent and German DAX 30 index gaining 1.06 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading HIGHER by 0.36 percent, while French CAC 40 Index surged 1.10 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 1.41 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 1.04 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.33 percent and India’s BSE Sensex rose 0.61 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Deutsche Bank downgraded Kroger Co KR from Buy to Hold and lowered the price target from $26.00 to $21.00.

Kroger shares fell 7.51 percent to close at $21.06 on Friday.

Breaking news

• Pilgrim's Pride Corporation PPC reported the purchase of Moy Park for $1.3 billion.



• Envirostar Inc EVI announced plans to acquire Tri-State Technical Services for $16.5 million.



• Natus Medical Inc BABY reported the purchase of neurosurgery assets from Integra Lifesciences Holdings Corp IART for $47.5 million.



• KEMET Corporation KEM disclosed pricing of secondary offering of 8,416,814 shares of common stock at $21.56999 per share.