A Peek Into The Markets: U.S. Stock Futures Rise; All Eyes On Jobs Report

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade. Data on nonfarm payrolls for July and international trade gap for June will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 54 points to 22,028.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 2.75 points to 2,474.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 8 points to 5,898.00.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 0.37 percent to trade at $51.82 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures dropped 0.35 percent to trade at $48.86 a barrel. The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the recent week will be released at 1:00 p.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.06 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index rising 0.10 percent and German DAX 30 index gaining 0.15 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.19 percent, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.21 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.38 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.12 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index declined 0.33 percent and India’s BSE Sensex rose 0.27 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Longbow Research upgraded GoPro Inc GPRO from Underperform to Neutral.

GoPro shares rose 17.31 percent to $9.69 in pre-market trading.

Breaking news

• ITT Inc. ITT reported stronger-than-expected earnings for its second quarter and raised its FY17 outlook.



• Activision Blizzard, Inc. ATVI reported stronger-than-expected earnings for its second quarter on Thursday.



• GoPro Inc GPRO posted a narrower-than-expected loss for its second quarter and issued a strong forecast for the third quarter.



• Viacom, Inc. VIAB reported better-than-expected results for its third quarter. However, the company projects a decline in domestic advertising revenue for the current quarter.