A Peek Into The Markets: U.S. Stock Futures Surge Ahead Of Earnings

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade, ahead of earnings from Boeing Co BA, Western Digital Corp WDC, eBay Inc EBAY, AT&T Inc. T and QUALCOMM, Inc. QCOM. The FHFA house price index for November will be released at 9:00 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 58 points to 19,902.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 6.25 points to 2,280.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 19.75 points to 5,115.75.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures dropped 0.88 percent to trade at $54.95 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures also fell 0.90 percent to trade at $52.70 a barrel. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 1.62 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index gaining 0.98 percent and German DAX 30 index gaining 1.30 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.31 percent, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.98 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 1.43 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.43 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.22 percent and India’s BSE Sensex rose 1.21 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at FBR Capital downgraded Verizon Communications Inc. VZ from Outperform to Market Perform and lowered the price target from $57.00 to $52.00.

Verizon shares fell 0.44 percent to $49.90 in pre-market trading.

Breaking news

• United Technologies Corporation UTX reported in-line earnings for its fourth quarter on Wednesday.



• Alcoa Corp AA reported weaker-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter, but sales exceeded expectations.



• Seagate Technology PLC STX reported better-than-expected results for its second quarter and issued a strong revenue outlook for the current quarter.



• Brinker International, Inc. EAT posted weaker-than-expected earnings for its second quarter.