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. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 50 points to 20,273.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 4.75 points to 2,317.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 8 points to 5,234.75.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures dropped 0.78 percent to trade at $56.26 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures fell 0.67 percent to trade at $53.50 a barrel.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index gaining 0.81 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index rising 0.57 percent and German DAX 30 index gaining 0.85 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.13 percent, while French CAC 40 Index rose 1.14 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.41 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 0.58 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.63 percent and India’s BSE Sensex rose 0.06 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at FBR Capital downgraded Travelers Companies Inc TRV from Outperform to Market Perform.

Travelers Companies shares rose 0.80 percent to close at $119.73 on Friday.

Breaking news

• Allergan plc AGN announced plans to acquire Zeltiq Aesthetics Inc ZLTQ for $2.47 billion.



• Deluxe Corporation DLX agreed to acquire RDM Corporation of Canada for $70 million in cash.



• Lear Corporation LEA reported a $1 billion buyback plan and raised its quarterly dividend from $0.30 per share to $0.50 per share.



• Insperity Inc NSP reported better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter on Monday.