A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Edge Higher Amid Goldman Sachs Earnings

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded slightly higher in early pre-market trade, ahead of earnings report from Goldman Sachs Group Inc GS.

Data on retail sales for December and import prices for December will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The housing market index for January and data on business inventories for November will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. The Federal Reserve will release its latest Beige Book report at 2:00 p.m. ET. Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari is set to speak in New York, NY at 6:30 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 29 points to 24,013.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 3.50 points to 2,609.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index surged 2.25 points to 6,679.00.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 0.48 percent to trade at $60.35 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures dropped 0.86 percent to trade at $51.66 a barrel. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories in the U.S. is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mostly lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.02 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index gaining 0.19 percent and German DAX 30 index declined 0.1 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading lower by 0.48 percent, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.15 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.55 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index surged 0.27 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.01 percent and India’s BSE Sensex rose 0.01 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Barclays upgraded Williams Companies Inc WMB from Equal-Weight to Overweight.

Williams Companies shares rose 0.55 percent to close at $25.45 on Tuesday.

Breaking News

• Bank of America Corp BAC reported stronger-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter.
• Fiserv Inc FISV announced plans to buy First Data Corp FDC in an all-stock transaction for equity value of $22 billion.
• PNC Financial Services Group Inc PNC reported downbeat earnings for its fourth quarter.
• BlackRock, Inc. BLK reported weaker-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter.