A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Surge Ahead Of Earnings

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade, ahead of earnings report from several companies. The FHFA house price index for November is schedule for release at 9:00 a.m. ET, while the Richmond Fed manufacturing index for January will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 168 points to 24,558.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 13 points to 2,644.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index surged 33.75 points to 6,687.00.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.88 percent to trade at $62.04 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures gained 0.89 percent to trade at $53.48 a barrel.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mostly higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 1 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index climbing 0.37 percent and German DAX 30 index gained 0.27 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading lower by 0.33 percent, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.34 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.14 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.01 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.05 percent and India’s BSE Sensex fell 0.92 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Morgan Stanley downgraded Williams-Sonoma WSM from Equal-Weight to Underweight.

Williams-Sonoma shares fell 2 percent to $51.45 in pre-market trading.

Breaking News

• Procter & Gamble Co PG reported better-than-expected results for its second quarter.
• Comcast Corporation CMCSA reported stronger-than-expected results for its fourth quarter.
• United Technologies Corporation UTX reported upbeat earningsfor its fourth quarter.
• IBM Common Stock IBM reported better-than-expected results for its fourth quarter and issued strong adjusted earnings guidance for 2019.