A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Surge Ahead Of Economic Reports

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade.

Data on personal income and consumer spending for December will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, while the Markit manufacturing PMI for February is schedule for release at 9:45 a.m. ET. The ISM manufacturing index for February and the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index for February will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Raphael Bostic is set to speak in Washington, DC at 12:50 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 172 points to 26,085, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 17 points to 2,801.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 52.75 points to 7,155.25.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.1 percent to trade at $66.37 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.4 percent to trade at $57.44 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 higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.6 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index climbing 0.5 percent and German DAX 30 index gained 1 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.6 percent, while French CAC 40 Index climbed 0.6 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 1.02 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 0.63 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index surged 1.8 percent and India’s BSE Sensex rose 0.55 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Barclays upgraded Hertz Global Holdings Inc HTZ from Underweight to Equal-Weight and raised the price target from $14 to $18.

Hertz Global shares rose 3.1 percent to $19.70 in pre-market trading.

Breaking News

• Foot Locker, Inc. FL reported stronger-than-expected results for its fourth quarter.
• Gap Inc GPS announced plans to split into two independent publicly traded companies. Gap also reported a fourth-quarter earnings beat.
• DENTSPLY SIRONA Inc XRAY reported upbeat results for its fourth quarter.
• Nordstrom, Inc. JWN reported better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter on Thursday.