A Peek Into The Markets: U.S. Stock Futures Surge On Last Trading Day Of 2017

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 83 points to 24,880.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 11.75 points to 2,697.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 20.25 points to 6,466.50. US markets will remain closed Monday for the New Year’s holiday.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.20 percent to trade at $66.57 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures gained 0.48 percent to trade at $60.13 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 lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.41 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index declining 0.02 percent and German DAX 30 index dropping 0.35 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.85 percent, while French CAC 40 Index fell 0.24 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.08 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 0.19 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.33 percent and India’s BSE Sensex climbed 0.62 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at JP Morgan upgraded AstraZeneca plc (ADR) AZN from Neutral to Overweight.

AstraZeneca shares rose 2.87 percent to $35.09 in pre-market trading.

Breaking news

• Applied DNA Sciences Inc APDN reported a Q4 loss of $0.10 per share on revenue of $1.1 million.



• ADTRAN, Inc. ADTN issued a weak guidance for the fourth quarter.



• Teton Advisors reported a 17.45 percent stake in Schmitt Industries, Inc. SMIT, totaling 697,000 shares, up from 94,500 shares previously.



• TherapeuticsMD Inc TXMD reported the submission of New Drug Application for TX-001HR to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.