A Peek Into The Markets: U.S. Stock Futures Jump; All Eyes On Brexit Polls

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade. Voting got underway to decide whether the UK should leave the European Union. Final results of the poll are due about 2:00 a.m. ET Friday. Data on initial jobless claims for the latest week and the Chicago Fed National Activity Index for May will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The manufacturing PMI for June is scheduled for release at 9:45 a.m. ET, while data on new home sales for May and the index of leading indicators for May will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 159 points to 17,846.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 19 points to 2,095.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 42.25 points to 4,436.25.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures gained 1.50 percent to trade at $50.09 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures also rose 1.30 percent to trade at $49.29 a barrel. The EIA’s weekly report on natural gas stocks 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 2.10 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index surging 1.59 percent and German DAX 30 index gaining 1.92 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 1.18 percent, while French CAC 40 Index rose 1.82 percent. French manufacturing business sentiment declined to 102 in June, versus 104 in May.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 1.07 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.35 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index declined 0.47 percent and India’s BSE Sensex rose 0.88 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Susquehanna upgraded Micron Technology, Inc. MU from Neutral to Positive and raised the price target from $10.00 to $18.0.

Micron shares rose 4.80 percent to $13.33 in pre-market trading.

Breaking news

• BlackBerry Ltd BBRY announced a better than expected adjusted earnings for the first quarter. However, its top line continued to miss the Street analysts' expectations despite a year-over-year drop. To read the full news, click here.



• Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. BBBY reported weaker-than-expected earnings for its first quarter on Wednesday.



• Red Hat Inc RHT reported in-line earnings for its first quarter, but exceeded analysts’ sales estimates. The company issued a weak earnings forecast and announced a $1 billion buyback program. Red Hat also announced plans to acquire API management leader 3scale.



• Qunar Cayman Islands Ltd QUNR, today announced that its board of directors has received a preliminary non-binding proposal letter, dated June 23, 2016, from Ocean Management Limited, to acquire all outstanding ordinary shares of Qunar not beneficially owned by the Significant Shareholders. To read the full news, click here.