A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Point To A Higher Open

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade. Data on existing home sales for April will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Raphael Bostic is set to speak in Amelia Island, Florida at 7:50 a.m. ET, while Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans will speak at 10:45 a.m. ET. Boston Federal Reserve Bank President Eric Rosengren is set to speak in New York at 12:00 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 129 points to 25,825.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 15.6 points to 2,859.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index rose 61.25 points to 7,452.75.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.5 percent to trade at $72.32 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.7 percent to trade at $63.52 a barrel.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.4 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index climbed 0.6 percent and German DAX 30 index gained 1 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.7 percent, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.6 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.14 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped 0.47 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.23 percent and India’s BSE Sensex slipped 0.97 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Bernstein upgraded Kroger Co KR from Market Perform to Outperform.

Kroger shares rose 1.7 percent to $24.48 in pre-market trading.

Breaking News

• Home Depot Inc HD reported better-than-expected earnings for its first quarter.
• Nordson Corporation NDSN reported weaker-than-expected results for its second quarter.
• Dycom Industries, Inc. DY reported upbeat earnings for its first quarter.
• Crane Co. CR reported a $45 per share cash bid for CIRCOR International, Inc. CIR.