A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Edge Higher, Alphabet Earnings In Focus

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded slightly higher in early pre-market trade. Alphabet Inc. GOOGL will release quarterly earnings after the closing bell. Data on motor vehicle sales for December will be released today. Data on factory orders for November will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank President Loretta Mester is set to speak in Cleveland, Ohio at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 12 points to 25,008, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 1 point to 2,705.25. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 2.5 points to 6,880.25.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.43 percent to trade at $63.02 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.05 percent to trade at $55.30 a barrel.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mostly lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.69 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index dropping 0.15 percent and German DAX 30 index slipped 0.28 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.26 percent, while French CAC 40 Index fell 0.47 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.46 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.21 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.3 percent and India’s BSE Sensex climbed 0.31 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Goldman Sachs upgraded ConocoPhillips COP from Neutral to Buy and raised the price target from $76 to $82.

ConocoPhillips shares rose 1.5 percent to $69.71 in pre-market trading.

Breaking News

• Saia Inc SAIA reported stronger-than-expected results for its fourth quarter.
• Johnson Outdoors Inc. JOUT reported weaker-than-expected earnings for its first quarter, while sales missed views.
• Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ALXN reported better-than-expected results for its fourth quarter.
• ON Semiconductor Corp ON reported stronger-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter on Friday.