A Peek Into The Markets: U.S. Stock Futures Gain; Jobs Report In Focus

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade, after strong earnings from Apple Inc. AAPL. Data on nonfarm payrolls for October and international trade for September will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. US Services Purchasing Managers' Index for October will be released at 9:45 a.m. ET. Data on factory orders for September and the ISM non-manufacturing index for October will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari is set to speak in Washington at 12:15 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 42 points to 23,486.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 2 points to 2,578.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index surged 24.25 points to 6,260.00.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.21 percent to trade at $60.75 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures gained 0.39 percent to trade at $54.75 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 mostly higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 1.13 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index rising 0.17 percent and German DAX 30 index climbing 0.31 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.12 percent, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.06 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.53 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.30 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.34 percent and India’s BSE Sensex slipped 0.08 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Pandora Media Inc P from Buy to Hold.

Pandora shares dropped 20.24 percent to $5.91 in pre-market trading.

Breaking news

• Apple Inc. AAPL reported stronger-than-expected results for its fourth quarter. The tech giant posted quarterly EPS of $2.07, beating estimates by 20 cents. Sales came in at $52.6 billion, topping estimates by $1.81 billion. Apple issued first-quarter sales guidance of $84-$87 billion.



• DENTSPLY SIRONA Inc XRAY reported upbeat earnings for its third quarter, but lowered its 2017 guidance.



• Starbucks Corporation SBUX reported in-line earnings for its fourth quarter, while sales missed estimates. Starbucks also announced it entered into a definitive agreement with Unilever to sell its Tazo tea brand for $384 million, leading the company to a single tea brand strategy with its premium Teavana brand.



• Pandora Media Inc P reported downbeat revenue for its third quarter and issued a weak forecast for the current quarter.