A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Climb Ahead Of Economic Reports

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade. Data on retail sales for November, and import and export prices for November will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Data on business inventories for October will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. New York Federal Reserve President John Williams is set to speak at 11:00 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 147 points to 28,277 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded rose 14.5 points to 3,185.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 48.75 points to 8,540.25.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 1.4% to trade at $65.07 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 1.1% to trade at $59.85 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 1.7%, STOXX Europe 600 Index gaining 1.8% and German DAX 30 index gaining 1.5%. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 1.9%, while French CAC 40 Index rose 1.4%.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 2.55%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 2.57%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.78% and India’s BSE Sensex rose 1.05%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at PiperJaffray upgraded Ciena (NYSE: CIEN) from Neutral to Overweight and raised the price target from $46 to $50.

Ciena shares rose 20.4% to close at $42.62 on Thursday.

Breaking News

• Costco Wholesale Corporation COST reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings, while sales missed views. The company also reported total comparable sales up 4.3% year-over-year.
• Aquestive Therapeutics AQST priced 7 million share public offering of common stock at $5 per share.
• Oracle Corporation ORCL reported upbeat Q2 earnings, while sales missed expectations.
• Adobe Inc ADBE reported better-than-expected Q4 EPS and sales results.