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

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade, ahead of earnings from several major companies. Boston Federal Reserve Bank President Eric Rosengren is set to speak in Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y. at 12:30 p.m. ET. The Federal Open Market Committee will release its latest Beige Book report at 2:00 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 28 points to 20,461.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 6.50 points to 2,343.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 15.75 points to 5,405.00.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.42 percent to trade at $55.12 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.29 percent to trade at $52.56 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 mostly higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.73 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index rising 0.33 percent and German DAX 30 index gaining 0.23 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading lower by 0.26 percent, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.32 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.07 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 0.41 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.81 percent and India’s BSE Sensex rose 0.06 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Barclays upgraded HP Inc HPQ from Equal-Weight to Overweight.

HP shares rose 0.11 percent to close at $18.22 on Tuesday.

Breaking news

• Morgan Stanley MS reported stronger-than-expected earnings for its first quarter on Wednesday.



• Yahoo! Inc. YHOO reported better-than-expected earnings for its first quarter. The company also disclosed that it expects the Verizon deal to close in June.



• U.S. Bancorp USB reported upbeat earnings for its first quarter on Wednesday.



• International Business Machines Corp. IBM posted upbeat earnings for its first quarter, while revenue missed expectations.