A Peek Into The Markets: U.S. Stock Futures Rise; All Eyes On Fed Decision

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade. The Consumer Price Index for February, data on retail sales for February and the Empire State manufacturing index for March will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Data on business inventories for January and the housing market index for March will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. The Federal Open Market Committee will announce its policy decision at 2:00 p.m. ET, while the Fed Chair Janet Yellen will hold a press conference at 2:30 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 40 points to 20,843.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 5.75 points to 2,368.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 10.75 points to 5,396.25.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures gained 1.94 percent to trade at $51.91 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 2.01 percent to trade at $49.32 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 0.48 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index gaining 0.21 percent and German DAX 30 index gaining 0.04 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.18 percent, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.03 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.16 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 0.15 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.08 percent and India’s BSE Sensex fell 0.15 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Jefferies upgraded Netflix, Inc. NFLX from Underperform to Hold and raised the price target from $95.00 to $135.00.

Netflix shares rose 0.66 percent to $144.13 in pre-market trading.

Breaking news

• The Rubicon Project Inc RUBI reported upbeat results for its fourth quarter and named Michael Barrett as CEO.



• AT&T Inc. T disclosed that the European Commission has approved its $85 billion acquisition deal with Time Warner Inc TWX.



• Fogo De Chao Inc FOGO reported better-than-expected results for its fourth quarter.



• Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. WBA is said to be near an agreement to sell additional assets to Fred’s Inc. FRED, according to sources as reported by Bloomberg. Walgreens is making the move in an attempt to gain U.S. antitrust approval for its acquisition of Rite Aid Corp. RAD, a source said.