A Peek Into The Markets: U.S. Stock Futures Gain Ahead Of Economic Data

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade. Data on housing starts for February, initial jobless claims and the Philadelphia Fed general conditions index for March will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The Labor Department's JOLTS report for January will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 63 points to 20,961.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 6.25 points to 2,386.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 16 points to 5,435.25.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures gained 0.87 percent to trade at $52.26 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.85 percent to trade at $49.80 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 higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 1.60 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index gaining 0.61 percent and German DAX 30 index gaining 0.99 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 1 percent, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.83 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.07 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 2.08 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.84 percent and India’s BSE Sensex rose 0.64 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Citigroup upgraded GoPro Inc GPRO from Sell to Neutral.

GoPro shares rose 11.4 percent to $8.19 in pre-market trading.

Breaking news

• Dollar General Corp. DG reported upbeat results for its fourth quarter and lifted its quarterly dividend by 4 percent. However, the company issued a weak earnings forecast for fiscal 2017.



• GoPro Inc GPRO disclosed that that the company will be cutting jobs and expects to be profitable on an adjusted basis in 2017. GoPro plans to cut 270 jobs, equating to 17 percent of its workforce.



• Oracle Corporation ORCL reported better-than-expected earnings for its third quarter and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.19 per share.



• Guess?, Inc. GES reported weaker-than-expected results for its fourth quarter on Wednesday.