A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Up Ahead Of Producer Price Index

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade. The Producer Price Index for June is schedule for release at 8:30 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 79 points to 27,156, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 5.6 points to 3,009.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 16 points to 7,934.75.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.3% to trade at $66.72 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.1% to trade at $60.28 a barrel. The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week will be released at 1:00 p.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.3%, STOXX Europe 600 Index gaining 0.2% and German DAX 30 index gaining 0.1%. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.2%, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.6%.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.2%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.14%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.44% and India’s BSE Sensex fell 0.22%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Goldman Sachs upgraded Altria Group Inc (NYSE: MO) from Neutral to Buy and announced a $59 price target.

Altria shares rose 1.4 percent to $49.95 in pre-market trading.

Breaking News

• PNM Resources Inc (NYSE: PNM) lowered its preliminary FY19 earnings guidance.
• AFLAC Incorporated (NYSE: AFL) reported the purchase of Argus Holdings. No terms of the transaction were disclosed.
• US Xpress Enterprises Inc (NYSE: USX) lowered its financial outlook for the second quarter 2019 as well as the full year. The carrier said that it now expects a full-year 2019 OR of 95.5 percent to 97.5 percent compared to the prior guidance of 93 percent.
• Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN) issued weak second-quarter preliminary sales guidance. Illumina said it expects preliminary Q2 sales of $835 million.