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. The U.S Treasury budget report for February is schedule for release at 2:00 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 96 points to 25,456.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 9.45 points to 2,798.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index rose 40.25 points to 7,164.75.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 0.61 percent to trade at $65.09 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures declined 0.50 percent to trade at $61.73 a barrel.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.56 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index gaining 0.37 percent and German DAX 30 index gaining 0.75 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.02 percent, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.29 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 1.65 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 1.93 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index climbed 0.59 percent and India’s BSE Sensex jumped 1.83 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Barclays upgraded Discovery Inc DISCA from Underweight to Equal-Weight.

Discovery shares rose 0.66 percent to $24.35 in pre-market trading.

Breaking news

• Lumentum Holdings Inc LITE announced plans to acquire Oclaro Inc OCLR for $9.99 per share in cash and stock.



• BlueLinx Holdings Inc. BXC reported a $413 million merger with Cedar Creek.



• Clorox Co CLX announced plans to acquire Nutranext for $700 million.



• CafePress Inc PRSS announced plans to reduce workforce by 7 percent. The company’s COO Robert D. Barton also submitted his resignation.