A Peek Into The Markets: U.S. Stock Futures Signal Higher Start On Wall Street

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade. The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index for January is schedule for release at 10:00 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Vice Chairman for Supervision Randal Quarles is set to speak in Washington at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 97 points to 26,038.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 8.75 points to 2,805.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 33.50 points to 6,846.50.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 0.81 percent to trade at $68.75 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures dropped 0.77 percent to trade at $63.46 a barrel. The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest 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 gaining 0.53 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index rising 0.49 percent and German DAX 30 index gaining 0.97 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.28 percent, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.50 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.19 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 0.41 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.38 percent and India’s BSE Sensex climbed 0.71 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Wedbush upgraded Nike Inc NKE from Neutral to Outperform.

Nike shares rose 1.54 percent to $65.10 in pre-market trading.

Breaking news

• International Business Machines Corp. IBM posted upbeat results for its fourth quarter, but issued FY18 EPS guidance below estimates.



• Synchrony Financial SYF reported better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter on Friday.



• Schlumberger Limited. SLB posted stronger-than-expected results for its fourth quarter.



• SunTrust Banks, Inc. STI reported upbeat earnings for its fourth quarter.