A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Point To Higher Wall Street Open

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade, ahead of earnings report from several companies. Data on durable goods orders for December will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, while data on new home sales for December will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 177 points to 24,635.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 18.75 points to 2,652.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index surged 65.75 points to 6,739.75.

Oil prices traded mostly higher as Brent crude futures fell 0.02 percent to trade at $61.08 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.28 percent to trade at $53.28 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 rising 0.46 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index climbing 0.76 percent and German DAX 30 index gained 1.54 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.19 percent, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.95 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.97 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 1.65 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.39 percent and India’s BSE Sensex fell 0.47 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at HSBC upgraded Rockwell Automation ROK from Reduce to Buy and raised the price target from $165 to $175.

Rockwell Automation shares rose 0.6 percent to close at $162.74 on Thursday.

Breaking News

• D. R. Horton Inc DHI reported weaker-than-expected earnings for its first quarter.
• Air Products & Chemicals, Inc. APD reported downbeat results for its first quarter.
• Lear Corporation LEA reported better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter, while sales missed estimates.
• Intel Corporation INTC reported downbeat earnings for its fourth quarter, while sales missed estimates. The company issued weak first-quarter earnings and sales guidance.