A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Climb Ahead Of Economic Data

Pre-open movers

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

Data on housing starts and permits for February will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The S&P Corelogic Case-Shiller home price index for January and the FHFA house price index for January will be released at 9:00 a.m. ET. The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index for March and the Richmond Fed's manufacturing index for March will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank President Patrick Harker will speak in Frankfurt, Germany at 8:00 a.m. ET, while Boston Federal Reserve President Eric Rosengren is set to speak in Hong Kong at 8:30 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 139 points to 25,716.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 13.75 points to 2,820.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index rose 33.75 points to 7,387.75.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.8 percent to trade at $67.77 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 1.2 percent to trade at $59.52 a barrel.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.1 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index climbing 0.5 percent and German DAX 30 index gained 0.1 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.3 percent, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.6 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 2.15 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 0.15 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell 1.51 percent and India’s BSE Sensex rose 1.12 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Deutsche Bank upgraded BB&T Corporation BBT from Hold to Buy.

BB&T shares fell 0.49 percent to close at $44.87 on Monday.

Breaking News

• McCormick & Company, Incorporated MKC reported upbeat earnings for its first quarter, while sales missed views.
• Red Hat Inc RHT reported upbeat profit for its fourth quarter, while sales missed estimates.
• IHS Markit Ltd INFO reported upbeat earnings for its first quarter, while sales missed views.
• Myokardia Inc MYOK reported a $200 million offering of common stock.