A Peek Into The Markets: U.S. Stock Futures Edge Higher Ahead Of Yellen Speech

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade. The FHFA house price index for April will be released at 9:00 a.m. ET, while existing home sales data for May will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. The Fed Vice Chair Stanley Fischer is scheduled to speak in Stockholm at 9:25 a.m. ET, while the Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen is scheduled to testify before the House Financial Services Committee in Washington at 10:00 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 13 points to 17,755.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 1.25 points to 2,082.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 7.25 points to 4,408.50.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures gained 0.30 percent to trade at $50.77 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures also rose 0.40 percent to trade at $50.05 a barrel. The EIA’s weekly report on petroleum inventories or the recent week 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 rising 0.49 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index surging 0.38 percent and German DAX 30 index gaining 0.98 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.62 percent, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.61 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.64 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.61 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index climbed 0.94 percent and India’s BSE Sensex fell 0.18 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Oppenheimer downgraded Tesla Motors Inc TSLA from Outperform to Perform.

Tesla shares fell 11.43 percent to $194.50 in pre-market trading.

Breaking news

• Tesla Motors Inc TSLA announced a proposed deal to acquire SolarCity Corp SCTY that valued the company somewhere between $26.50 and $28.50 per share.



• Anavex Life Sciences Corp. AVXL revealed Tuesday that the Food and Drug Administration's Office of Orphan Product Development has granted Orphan Drug Designation to its ANAVEX 2-73 for infantile spasms treatment. To read the full news, click here.



• Adobe Systems Incorporated ADBE reported better-than-expected earnings for the second quarter, but issued a disappointing revenue forecast.



• Johnson & Johnson JNJ revealed Tuesday that Louise Mehrotra, VP of Investor Relations, would retire in January next year, after a transition period with her successor. To read the full news, click here.