A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Edge Higher; Morgan Stanley Beats Q1 Views

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded slightly higher in early pre-market trade.

Data on international trade for February will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, while wholesale inventories report for February is schedule for release at 10:00 a.m. ET. St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard is set to speak in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York at 12:30 p.m. ET, while Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank President Patrick Harker will speak in Vineland, NJ at 12:30 p.m. ET. The Federal Reserve will release its latest Beige Book report at 2:00 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 29 points to 26,476.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures gained 5.85 points to 2,917.25. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index rose 23.25 points to 7,702.75.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.5 percent to trade at $72.09 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures climbed 0.6 percent to trade at $64.41 a barrel. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories 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 0.4 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index falling 0.1 percent and German DAX 30 index gained 0.3 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading lower by 0.1 percent, while French CAC 40 Index climbed 0.3 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.25 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slipped 0.02 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.29 percent and India’s BSE Sensex rose 0.95 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at JPMorgan upgraded QUALCOMM, Inc. QCOM from Neutral to Overweight.

Qualcomm shares rose 9.3 percent to $76.99 in pre-market trading.

Breaking News

• Morgan Stanley MS reported better-than-expected results for its first quarter.
• PepsiCo, Inc. PEP reported stronger-than-expected earnings for its first quarter on Wednesday.
• Smart & Final Stores Inc SFS agreed to be acquired by Apollo funds for $6.50 per share in cash.
• IBM Common Stock IBM reported upbeat earnings for its first quarter, while sales missed estimates.