A Peek Into The Markets: U.S. Stock Futures Edge Higher; Crude Oil Drops

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade. Richmond Fed President Jeffrey M. Lacker is set to speak at the West Virginia Economic Outlook Conference in Charleston, West Virginia at 8:05 a.m. ET, while Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans will speak in Auckland, New Zealand at 8:00 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 15 points to 18,171.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures gained 1 point to 2,154.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index rose 6.25 points to 4,871.50.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures declined 0.75 percent to trade at $50.51 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures also fell 0.94 percent to trade at $48.35 a barrel.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index gaining 0.14 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index gaining 0.79 percent and German DAX 30 index rising 0.58 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 1.89 percent, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.94 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.83 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.45 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.21 percent and India’s BSE Sensex rose 0.32 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Deutsche Bank upgraded KBR, Inc. KBR from Hold to Buy.

KBR shares fell 9.91 percent to close at $13.63 on Monday.

Breaking news

• AstraZeneca plc AZN disclosed top-line results from the EUCLID study revealing that Brilinta failed to demonstrate a gain over clopidogrel in a symptomatic peripheral artery disease (PAD) patient population. This meant that the study failed to meet the primary endpoint. To read the full news, click here.



• The British pound was trading lower by more than 0.50 percent Tuesday morning at $1.2758 and traded as low as $1.2737, which marks not only a new 52-week low but the lowest levels in 31 years. The currency has been under pressure since UK Prime Minister Theresa May provided some much needed clarity over a Brexit timeline. To read the full news, click here.



• Darden Restaurants Inc. DRI reported better-than-expected earnings for its first quarter and raised its earnings outlook for the year.



• Cypress Semiconductor Corporation CY announced plans to cut about 8 percent of its workforce.