A Peek Into The Markets: U.S. Stock Futures Edge Higher Ahead Of J C Penney Earnings

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded slightly higher in early pre-market trade, ahead of earnings from J C Penney Company Inc JCP. The Producer Price Index for July and retail sales report for July will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Data on business inventories for June and the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index for August will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 6 points to 18,572.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures gained 0.50 points to 2,182.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index rose 1 point to 4,801.00.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures declined 0.33 percent to trade at $45.89 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures also fell 0.14 percent to trade at $44.17 a barrel.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mostly lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.01 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index gaining 0.01 percent and German DAX 30 index dropping 0.17 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading lower by 0.02 percent, while French CAC 40 Index declined 0.11 percent. The eurozone’s economy grew 0.3 percent in the second quarter, while Germany's economy grew at a 0.4 percent pace in the quarter.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average gained 1.10 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.83 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index climbed 1.60 percent and India’s BSE Sensex rose 1.05 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Macquarie upgraded Alibaba Group Holding Ltd BABA from Neutral to Outperform.

Alibaba shares rose 1.33 percent to $92.99 in pre-market trading.

Breaking news

• NVIDIA Corporation NVDA reported stronger-than-expected Q2 results after market close on Thursday. To read the full news, click here.



• Endo International plc ENDP decided to withdraw its supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) relating to specific abuse deterrent labeling for OPANA® ER. It also pledged not to refile. The move comes on the heels of a discussion with the FDA on an August 11. To read the full news, click here.



• Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co HPE announced plans to acquire Silicon Graphics International Corp SGI for around $275 million.



• Applied Industrial Technologies AIT released its fourth quarter earnings, which was in line with the Street estimates. However, sales and outlook fell shy of the expectations. To read the full news, click here.