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

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade. Data on durable goods orders for November and consumer spending for November will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. New home sales report for November and the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index for December will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. The Kansas City Fed manufacturing index for December is schedule for release at 11:00 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 24 points to 24,801.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 3 points to 2,690.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 5 points to 6,496.50.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 0.35 percent to trade at $64.67 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures slipped 0.53 percent to trade at $58.05 a barrel. The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the recent week will be released at 1:00 p.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 1.08 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index declining 0.09 percent and German DAX 30 index dropping 0.22 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading lower by 0.42 percent, while French CAC 40 Index fell 0.35 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.16 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 0.72 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.09 percent and India’s BSE Sensex climbed 0.55 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Jefferies downgraded Shake Shack Inc SHAK from Hold to Underperform.

Shake Shack shares fell 2.62 percent to $44.99 in pre-market trading

Breaking news

• Nike Inc NKE posted stronger-than-expected results for its second quarter on Thursday.



• Cintas Corporation CTAS reported upbeat earnings for its second quarter and raised its FY18 outlook.



• Celgene Corporation CELG disclosed that the company’s Revlimid did not achieve co-primary endpoints in Phase III of a relevance study.



• Smart Global Holdings Inc SGH reported better-than-expected results for its first quarter and also issued strong second-quarter guidance.