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, ahead of earnings and economic data. The Chicago Fed National Activity Index for September is schedule for release at 8:30 a.m. ET, while the manufacturing PMI for October will be released at 9:45 a.m. ET. New York Federal Reserve Bank President William Dudley is set to speak in New York at 9:00 a.m. ET, while St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard will speak in Fayetteville, Ark. at 9:05 a.m. ET. Chicago Federal Reserve President Charles Evans is set to speak in Chicago at 1:30 p.m. ET, while Federal Reserve Board Governor Jerome Powell will speak at 1:45 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 74 points to 18,140.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures gained 9.50 points to 2,144.25. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index rose 29 points to 4,872.50.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures declined 0.33 percent to trade at $51.61 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures also fell 0.53 percent to trade at $50.58 a barrel.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 1.33 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index gaining 0.40 percent and German DAX 30 index gaining 0.78 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.01 percent, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.74 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.29 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.98 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.21 percent and India’s BSE Sensex gained 0.36 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Credit Suisse downgraded Time Warner Inc TWX from Outperform to Neutral.

Time Warner shares fell 0.13 percent to $89.36 in pre-market trading.

Breaking news

• AT&T Inc. T agreed to acquire Time Warner Inc TWX for $107.50 per share in cash and stock. Total equity value of the deal is $85.4 billion. AT&T also reported Q3 earnings of $0.74 per share on revenue of $40.9 billion. To read the full news, click here.



• Rockwell Collins Inc COL agreed to buy B/E Aerospace Inc BEAV for $62 per share in cash and stock. The deal is valued at $6.4 billion plus the assumption of $1.9 billion in debt. Rockwell Collins also reported Q4 earnings of $1.58 per share on revenue of $1.445 billion. To read the full news, click here.



• China Oceanwide Holdings Group Co agreed to acquire Genworth Financial Inc GNW for $2.7 billion in cash.



• TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. AMTD announced plans to acquire Scottrade Financial Services Inc for $4 billion in cash and stock.