A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Up; Jobs Report In Focus

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade. Data on nonfarm payrolls and unemployment rate for November will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index for December and data on wholesale trade for October will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 62 points to 27,740 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded rose 6.8 points to 3,124.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index surged 29.75 points to 8,339.00.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 0.1% to trade at $63.31 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures fell 0.3% to trade at $58.25 a barrel. The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week is schedule for release at 1:00 p.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.7%, STOXX Europe 600 Index climbing 0.4% and German DAX 30 index gaining 0.2%. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.7%, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.4%.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.23%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 1.07%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.43% and India’s BSE Sensex fell 0.82%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Morgan Stanley upgraded Epizyme Inc EPZM from Equal-Weight to Overweight and raised the price target from $12 to $22.

Epizyme shares rose 4.5% to $15.99 in pre-market trading.

Breaking News

• Big Lots, Inc. BIG reported upbeat results for its third quarter.
• Hooker Furniture Corporation HOFT reported downbeat Q3 earnings and disclosed that CFO Henry Dachuan Sha is leaving the company.
• Ulta Beauty Inc ULTA reported better-than-expected Q3 earnings. The company also narrowed its FY19 EPS guidance above analyst estimates.
• Zumiez Inc ZUMZ reported stronger-than-expected Q3 results and issued Q4 EPS guidance above analyst estimates.