A Peek Into The Markets: U.S. Stock Futures Edge Higher; Alphabet, Amazon Earnings In Focus

U.S. stock futures traded slightly higher in early pre-market trade.

,

,

and

will release earnings after the closing bell. A report on U.S. international trade in goods for September and initial jobless claims for the latest week will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The pending home sales index for September is schedule for release at 10:00 a.m. ET. The Kansas City Fed manufacturing index for October will be released at 11:00 a.m. ET. Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari is set to speak in Minneapolis 10:30 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 18 points to 23,319.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 1.25 points to 2,559.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 3.75 points to 6,068.25. Oil prices traded mixed as Brent crude futures fell 0.14 percent to trade at $58.36 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.06 percent to trade at $52.21 a barrel. The Energy Information Administration's weekly report on natural gas stocks in underground storage is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 1.31 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index gaining 0.29 percent and German DAX 30 index gaining 0.33 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.45 percent, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.49 percent. In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.15 percent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.36 percent, China's Shanghai Composite Index climbed 0.31 percent and India's BSE Sensex gained 0.32 percent.

Analysts at RBC Capital upgraded

from Sector Perform to Outperform. Regal Entertainment shares rose 0.37 percent to close at $16.41 on Wednesday.