A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Signal Higher Start On Wall Street

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade. Data on retail sales for February will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, while the manufacturing PMI for March is schedule for release at 9:45 a.m. ET. Data on business inventories for January, the ISM manufacturing composite index for March and construction spending for February will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 191 points to 26,124.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 20 points to 2,857.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index rose 71 points to 7,471.25.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 1.1 percent to trade at $68.61 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 1.2 percent to trade at $60.83 a barrel.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.5 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index climbing 0.8 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 rose 0.6 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 1.43 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 1.76 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 2.58 percent and India’s BSE Sensex rose 0.42 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Stephens & Co. upgraded CarMax, Inc KMX from Equal-Weight to Overweight.

CarMax shares rose 9.58 percent to close at $69.80 on Friday.

Breaking News

• Cal-Maine Foods Inc CALM reported upbeat earnings for its third quarter.
• ZIOPHARM Oncology Inc. ZIOP disclosed that it has received Fast Track designation from the FDA for Ad-RTS-hIL-12.
• Cable One Inc CABO announced plans to acquire Fidelity Communications for $525.9 million in cash.
• Owens-Illinois Inc OI announced plans to acquire a glass packaging facility in Mexico for $188 million.