A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Up Ahead Of Economic Data

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade. Data on durable goods orders and the Chicago Fed National Activity Index for November will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Data on new home sales for November will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 35 points to 28,517 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded rose 5.1 points to 3,230.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 17.75 points to 8,728.50.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 1.4% to trade at $65.21 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures fell 0.2% to trade at $60.33 a barrel.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mostly higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.2%, STOXX Europe 600 Index climbing 0.1% and German DAX 30 index dropping 0.2%. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.4%, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.1%.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.02%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.13%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell 1.4% and India’s BSE Sensex fell 0.1%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at JP Morgan upgraded 3M Company MMM from Underweight to Neutral and raised the price target from $143 to $150.

3M shares rose 0.6% to $176.38 in pre-market trading.

Breaking News

• Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc. SRPT reported a partnership with Roche in territories outside the United States for its investigational micro-dystrophin gene therapy for duchenne muscular dystrophy, SRP-9001.
• Bunge Ltd BG agreed to sell its margarine and mayonnaise assets in Brazil to Seara Alimentos S.A.
• DavidsTea Inc DTEA reported a Q3 loss of $0.34 per share, versus a year-ago loss of $0.33 per share.
• BeiGene, Ltd. BGNE reported the acceptance of a supplemental NDA in China for REVLIMID in relapsed or refractory indolent lymphoma.