A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Up Ahead Of PPI, Fed Speakers

Pre-open movers

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

Data on initial jobless claims for the latest week and the Producer Price Index for March will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is set to speak in Leesburg, Virginia, while Federal Reserve Board of Governors Vice Chair Richard Clarida will speak in Washington, DC at 9:30 a.m. ET. New York Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams is set to speak in New York at 9:35 a.m. ET, while St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard will speak in Tupelo, Missouri at 9:40 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Member of the Board of Governors Michelle Bowman is set to speak in San Francisco, California at 4:00 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 27 points to 26,193, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures gained 3 points to 2,897.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index climbed 4.5 points to 7,645.75.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 0.7 percent to trade at $71.24 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures dropped 0.9 percent to trade at $64.01 a barrel. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on natural gas stocks in underground storage will be released at 10:30 a.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mostly higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.1 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index gaining 0.1 percent and German DAX 30 index gained 0.2 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.1 percent, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.6 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.11 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 0.93 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.07 percent and India’s BSE Sensex rose 0.06 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at JP Morgan upgraded Five Below Inc FIVE from Neutral to Overweight and announced a $150 price target.

Five Below shares fell 0.1 percent to $129.00 in pre-market trading.

Breaking News

• Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. BBBY reported upbeat earnings for its fourth quarter, while sales missed estimates. Same-store sales fell 1.4 percent.
• Apogee Enterprises Inc APOG reported downbeat earnings for its fourth quarter and issued weak FY20 forecast.
• Costco Wholesale Corporation COST reported a 5.7 percent year-over-year rise in March same-store sales. Its total sales rose 7.4 percent year-over-year.
• Commerce Bancshares, Inc. PTE reported downbeat earnings for its first quarter.