A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Mostly Higher

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded mostly higher in early pre-market trade. The FHFA house price index for February will be released at 9:00 a.m. ET, while US new home sales report for March is schedule for release at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 52 points to 26,565, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures gained 0.5 point to 2,913.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index rose 0.75 point to 7,735.50.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.2 percent to trade at $74.18 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures climbed 0.5 percent to trade at $65.90 a barrel.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.7 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index declining 0.2 percent and German DAX 30 index dropped 0.3 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.5 percent, while French CAC 40 Index slipped 0.2 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.19 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slipped 0.01 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.51 percent and India’s BSE Sensex fell 1.26 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Macquarie upgraded Kimberly Clark Corp KMB from Neutral to Outperform and raised the price target from $102 to $142.

Kimberly-Clark shares rose 0.2 percent to $130.55 in pre-market trading.

Breaking News

• The Coca-Cola Co KO reported better-than-expected results for its first quarter.
• Harley-Davidson Inc HOG announced upbeat earnings for its first quarter.
• Centene Corp CNC reported stronger-than-expected earnings for its first quarter.
• Whirlpool Corporation WHR reported stronger-than-expected earnings for its first quarter on Monday.