A Peek Into The Markets: U.S. Stock Futures Gain Ahead Of Yellen's Speech

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade. Data on durable goods orders for July will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen is set to speak at Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City Economic Symposium in Jackson Hole at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 33 points to 21,819.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 5 points to 2,445.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index climbed 17 points to 5,857.50.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.63 percent to trade at $52.37 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures gained 0.63 percent to trade at $47.73 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 gaining 0.48 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index rising 0.43 percent and German DAX 30 index gaining 0.44 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.39 percent, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.37 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.51 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 1.20 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index climbed 1.83 percent and India’s BSE Sensex rose 0.09 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at RBC Capital upgraded Transocean LTD RIG from Underperform to Sector Perform.

Transocean shares rose 1.04 percent to $7.78 in pre-market trading.

Breaking news

• GameStop Corp. GME reported weaker-than-expected earnings for its second quarter.



• Broadcom Ltd AVGO reported stronger-than-expected earnings for its second quarter.



• Ulta Beauty Inc ULTA posted upbeat earnings for its second quarter on Thursday.



• Splunk Inc SPLK reported stronger-than-expected results for its second quarter and raised its sales outlook.