A Peek Into The Markets: U.S. Stock Futures Mostly Up Ahead Of Labor Market Conditions Index

Pre-Open movers

U.S. stock futures traded mostly higher in early pre-market trade. The Labor Market Conditions Index for March is scheduled for release at 10:00 a.m. ET. The Treasury will auction 3- and 6-month bills at 11:30 a.m. ET. The TD Ameritrade Investor Movement Index for March is scheduled for released at 12:30 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 8.00 points to 20607.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 1.25 points to 2,353.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index rose 2.50 points to 5,423.75.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures gained 0.91 percent to trade at $55.75 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.84 percent to trade at $52.67 a barrel.

A Peek Into Global Markets

The Global markets were fluctuating on Monday, following the attacks by suicide bombers on churches in Egypt, which has led to uncertainties regarding the Middle East. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 was marginally up at 7,350.98, while the French CAC fell 0.5 percent in early trading to 5,108.27. The German DAX declined 0.14 percent to 12,207.78, while the Spanish IBEX was down 0.63 percent to 10,462.50. The European STOXX 600 was slightly down at 0.08 percent to 380.95.

In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.7 percent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was down 0.02 percent, China's Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.52 percent and India's BSE Sensex declined 0.43 percent. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.9 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Baird upgrades Sunoco LP SUN from Neutral to Outperform and raised the price target from $28.00 to $36.00.

Sunoco shares rose 2.08 percent to close at $29.40 on Friday.

Breaking News

• Wells Fargo & Co WFC announced that it has been able to regain an additional $72 million in pay from two of its former executives, who the company holds responsible to large extent for the sales practice problems discovered.
• EXCO Resources Inc XCO reported the execution of its deal with Venado Oil and Gas to divest its natural gas properties, valued at $300 million.
• Oncomed Pharmaceuticals Inc OMED reported that its Phase 2 Demcizumab Pancreatic Cancer Trial missed the primary endpoint, and that the trial would be discontinued due to lack of benefit over standard care.
• AMAG Pharmaceuticals, Inc. AMAG announced, as part of its 8K, that its Board of Directors have approved the adoption of a shareholder rights plan.