A Peek Into The Markets: U.S. Stock Futures Gain Ahead Of Housing Starts Report

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade. Data on housing starts for November will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, while the Atlanta Fed's Business Inflation Expectations survey for December will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Richmond Federal Reserve Bank President Jeffrey Lacker is set to speak in Charlotte, N.C. at 12:30 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 42 points to 19,905.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures gained 4 points to 2,267.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index rose 8.75 points to 4,943.00.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures gained 0.52 percent to trade at $54.30 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures also rose 0.29 percent to trade at $52.12 a barrel. The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week is schedule for release at 1:00 p.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.29 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index gaining 0.26 percent and German DAX 30 index gaining 0.34 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.15 percent, while French CAC 40 Index climbed 0.38 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.66 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.18 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.17 percent and India’s BSE Sensex declined 0.11 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Bernstein upgraded General Electric Company GE from Market Perform to Outperform and raised the price target from $33.00 to $40.00.

General Electric shares rose 1 percent to $31.56 in pre-market trading.

Breaking news

• Adobe Systems Incorporated ADBE posted stronger-than-expected results for its fourth quarter on Thursday.



• Priceline Group Inc. PCLN named Glenn Fogel, the company’s current head of strategy, as chief executive, effective January 1.



• Oracle Corporation ORCL reported upbeat earnings for its second quarter, but sales missed analysts’ expectations.



• Jabil Circuit, Inc. JBL reported better-than-expected results for its first quarter on Thursday.