A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Climb Ahead Of Fed Minutes

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade, ahead of earnings from retailers. Existing home sales report for July will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. The Federal Open Market Committee will issue minutes of its latest meeting at 2:00 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 154 points to 26,085 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 19.8 points to 2,918.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 62.5 points to 7,730.50.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 1.3% to trade at $60.83 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.9% to trade at $56.65 a barrel. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories in the U.S.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 0.9%, STOXX Europe 600 Index gaining 1.1% and German DAX 30 index gaining 1.1%. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 1.1%, while French CAC 40 Index rose 1.4%.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.28%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.15%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.01% and India’s BSE Sensex fell 0.72%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Oppenheimer downgraded Synlogic Inc SYBX from Outperform to Perform.

Synlogic shares fell 1.7% to $3.43 in pre-market trading.

Breaking News

• Lowe's Companies, Inc. LOW reported better-than-expected results for its second quarter.
• Urban Outfitters, Inc. URBN reported upbeat earnings for its second quarter, while sales missed views.
• Target Corporation TGT reported stronger-than-expected results for its second quarter and raised FY19 EPS guidance.
• Toll Brothers Inc TOL reported stronger-than-expected profit for its third quarter.