A Peek Into The Markets: U.S. Stock Futures Up Ahead Of Yellen Speech

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded slightly higher in early pre-market trade. The Consumer Price Index for October, housing starts report for October, the Philadelphia Fed general conditions index for November and initial jobless claims data for the latest week will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. New York Federal Reserve Bank President William Dudley is set to speak at the Global Research Forum on International Macroeconomics and Finance at 8:50 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen is set to testify before the Joint Economic Committee of Congress in Washington D.C. at 10:00 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard will speak in New York at 12:30 p.m. ET, while Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans is set to speak in Chicago at 2:45 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 12 points to 18,845.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures gained 2.25 points to 2,175.25. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 14.75 points to 4,797.25.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 1.44 percent to trade at $47.30 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures also rose 1.32 percent to trade at $46.71 a barrel. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on natural gas stocks is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mostly higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index gaining 0.62 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index rising 0.14 percent and German DAX 30 index dropping 0.14 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.38 percent, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.18 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.01 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.08 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.11 percent and India’s BSE Sensex declined 0.27 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Goldman Sachs upgraded Microsoft Corporation MSFT from Neutral to Buy and raised the price target from $60.00 to $68.00.

Microsoft shares rose 1.17 percent to $60.35 in pre-market trading.

Breaking news

• Shares of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. WMT ticked lower by more than 3 percent early Thursday morning after the company reported third quarter results. Wal-Mart said it earned $0.98 per share in the quarter on revenue of $117.2 billion. Analysts were expecting the company to earn $0.96 per share on revenue of $118.7 billion. To read the full news, click here.



• First Solar Inc FSLR announced plans to cut 27 percent of its global workforce and issued a weak sales forecast for 2017. However, the company raised its adjusted profit guidance for 2016. To read the full news, click here.



• Cisco Systems, Inc. CSCO reported upbeat earnings for its fiscal first quarter, but issued a weak outlook for the current quarter. To read the full news, click here.



• Tesoro Corporation TSO announced plans to buy Western Refining, Inc. WNR for $37.30 per share in a stock transaction. To read the full news, click here.