A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Up; Jobs Data In Focus

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade. Data on nonfarm payrolls for April and international trade in goods for March will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. US Services Purchasing Managers' Index for April will be released at 9:45 a.m. ET, while the ISM's non-manufacturing index for April is schedule for release at 10:00 a.m. ET. Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans is set to speak in Stockholm, Sweden at 10:15 a.m. ET, while Federal Reserve Board of Governors Vice Chairman Richard Clarida will speak in Stanford, CA at 11:30 a.m. ET. New York Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams is set to speak in Stanford, CA. at 1:45 p.m. ET, while Federal Reserve Board of Governors Member Michelle Bowman will speak in Stanford, CA at 3:00 p.m. ET. St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard, San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President Mary Daly, Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Robert Kaplan and Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank President Loretta Mester will speak in Stanford, California at 7:45 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 66 points to 26,331, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 8.65 points to 2,926.25. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index climbed 41.5 points to 7,775.75.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 0.6 percent to trade at $70.33 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures dropped 0.1 percent to trade at $61.73 a barrel. The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the recent week will be released at 1:00 p.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 gained 0.3 percent and German DAX 30 index gained 0.3 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.8 percent, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.2 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.22 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.46 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.52 percent and India’s BSE Sensex slipped 0.05 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Barclays upgraded Bristol-Myers Squibb Co BMY from Equal-Weight to Overweight and raised the price target from $53 to $55.

Bristol-Myers shares rose 1 percent to $47.35 in pre-market trading.

Breaking News

• Monster Beverage Corp MNST reported better-than-expected earnings for its first quarter on Thursday.
• Newell Co NWL reported better-than-expected results for its first quarter, but issued weak earnings forecast for the second quarter.
• Johnson Outdoors Inc. JOUT announced upbeat earnings for its second quarter.
• Expedia Group Inc EXPE reported a narrower-than-expected loss for its first quarter, while sales missed estimates.