Dow, Nasdaq Futures Surge Ahead Of Jackson Hole Symposium

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade on Thursday ahead of the three-day Jackson Hole economic symposium starting today, with Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell scheduled to speak on Friday. Investors are awaiting earnings results from Dollar General Corporation (NYSE:DG), Dollar Tree, Inc. (NASDAQ:DLTR) and Dell Technologies Inc. (NYSE:DELL).

Data on Gross Domestic Product and initial jobless claims will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The Kansas City Fed manufacturing index for August is scheduled for release at 11:00 a.m. ET.

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Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 181 points to 33,139.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 32.75 points to 4,175.50. Futures for the Nasdaq index rose 119.75 points to 13,049.50.

Oil prices traded slightly higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.2% to trade at $100.56 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.2% to trade at $95.09 a barrel. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on natural gas stocks in underground storage is scheduled for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 95,734,080 with around 1,067,540 deaths. India reported a total of at least 44,378,920 confirmed cases, while France confirmed over 34,408,900 cases.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index climbed 0.7%, London’s FTSE 100 gained 0.8% while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index rose 0.7%. The French CAC 40 Index rose 0.6%, while German DAX gained 0.8%.

The Ifo Business Climate indicator for Germany fell to 88.5 in August versus a revised 88.7 in July, while the country’s economy unexpectedly grew 0.1% on quarter in the second quarter. Manufacturing climate indicator in France declined for a second month to a reading of 104 in August. UK’s car production surged 8.6% from a year ago to 58,043 units in July. Spanish annual producer inflation declined to 40.4% in July from a revised 43.1% annual surge in the prior month.

Asian markets traded higher today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.58%, China’s Shanghai Composite rose 0.97%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index jumped 3.63%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.7%, while India’s S&P BSE SENSEX rose 0.6%.

Broker Recommendation

Credit Suisse initiated coverage on Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN) with a Neutral rating and announced a price target of $230.

Illumina shares rose 0.4% to $211.50 in pre-market trading.

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Breaking News

• NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) reported weaker-than-expected results for its second quarter on Wednesday. Nvidia is guiding for third-quarter revenue of $5.9 billion plus or minus 2%.
• Twitter, Inc. (NYSE:TWTR) whistleblower Peiter Zatko will testify before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee next month regarding his complaint that the social media platform misled regulators, Reuters reported.
• Salesforce Inc (NYSE:CRM) reported upbeat results for its second quarter, but lowered its annual projections.
• Singapore Telecommunications Limited (OTC:SGAPY) has announced it will sell a 3.3% stake in Indian telecom player Airtel to Bharti Telecom, for approximately S$2.25 billion ($1.61 billion), as part of its capital recycling strategy.

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