A Peek Into The Markets: U.S. Stock Futures Up Ahead Of Pending-Home Sales Report

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade. The pending home sales index for November is schedule for release at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 30 points to 19,906.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 4.75 points to 2,265.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 13.25 points to 4,975.00.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures gained 0.71 percent to trade at $56.49 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures also rose 0.54 percent to trade at $54.19 a barrel.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mixed today, with the Spanish Ibex Index dropping 0.43 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index rising 0.17 percent and German DAX 30 index dropping 0.02 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.38 percent, while French CAC 40 Index fell 0.03 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.01 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.83 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index declined 0.40 percent and India’s BSE Sensex dropped 0.01 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Raymond James upgraded Bank of New York Mellon Corp BK from Outperform to Strong Buy and raised the price target from $50.00 to $57.00.

Bank of New York Mellon shares rose 0.32 percent to close at $47.73 on Tuesday.

Breaking news

• Anthera Pharmaceuticals Inc ANTH disclosed that the Phase 3 SOLUTION study with Sollpura has missed the primary endpoint.



• Yum! Brands, Inc. YUM is looking to sell KFC in Turkey, Bloomberg reported.



• BP plc (ADR) BP announced plans to buy Woolworths Ltd.’s fuels business for A$1.785 billion ($1.3 billion).



• Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation GLDD named Lasse Petterson as Chief Executive Officer.