A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Gain Ahead Of Citigroup, Wells Fargo Earnings

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade, ahead of earnings from Citigroup Inc C and Wells Fargo & Co WFC. Data on import and export prices for September will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, while the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index for October is schedule for release at 10:00 a.m. ET. Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans is set to speak in Ann Arbor, MI at 9:30 a.m. ET, while Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Raphael Bostic will speak in Atlanta, Georgia at 12:30 p.m. ET. Federal Reserve Vice Chairman for Supervision Randal Quarles is set to speak in Bali, Indonesia at 10:30 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 266 points to 25,451, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded rose 31 points to 2,776.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index climbed 117.25 points to 7,148.25.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.51 percent to trade at $80.67 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.85 percent to trade at $71.57 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 mostly higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.27 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index gaining 0.55 percent and German DAX 30 index gained 0.43 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.7 percent, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.62 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.46 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 2.12 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.91 percent and India’s BSE Sensex climbed 2.15 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Macquarie upgraded Microsoft Corporation MSFT from Neutral to Outperform.

Microsoft shares rose 3.11 percent to $109.20 in pre-market trading.

Breaking News

• JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM reported better-than-expected earnings for its third quarter.
• Bristol-Myers Squibb Co BMY disclosed that its Phase 3 CheckMate -331 study did not meet primary endpoint.
• PNC Financial Services Group Inc PNC posted upbeat earnings for its third quarter.
• Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals Inc TTPH reported the commercial launch of XERAVA in the United States.