A Peek Into The Markets: US 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 jumped 180 points to 24,106.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures gained 16.05 points to 2,623.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index surged 51.25 points to 6,512.00.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.51 percent to trade at $67.45 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.26 percent to trade at $62.22 a barrel.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mostly higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.74 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index gaining 0.36 percent and German DAX 30 index climbing 0.74 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading lower by 0.12 percent, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.37 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.51 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 1.29 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.23 percent and India’s BSE Sensex rose 0.48 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Morgan Stanley upgraded General Motors Company GM from Equal Weight to Overweight.

GM shares rose 2.44 percent to $38.60 in pre-market trading.

Breaking news

• AveXis, Inc. AVXS agreed to be acquired by Novartis AG NVS for $8.7 billion.



• Merck & Co., Inc. MRK disclosed that its KEYTRUDA monotherapey met its primary endpoint in the Phase 3 KEYNOTE-042 study.



• Proteostasis Therapeutics Inc PTI disclosed that it has filed for a $100 million mixed shelf offering.



• Deutsche Bank AG (USA) DB named Christian Sewing as its new CEO.