A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Gain As China Cuts Tariffs

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade, ahead of earnings from YUM! Brands, Inc. YUM, Twitter, Inc. TWTR and Kellogg Company K. The People's Republic of China announced plans to cut tariffs on hundreds of the United States imports worth about $75 billion by half. The Challenger job-cut report for January is scheduled for released at 7:30 a.m. ET. Data on initial jobless claims for the latest week and nonfarm productivity for the fourth quarter will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Federal Bank of Dallas President Robert Kaplan is set to speak at 9:15 a.m. ET, while Federal Reserve Governor Randal Quarles will speak at 7:15 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 91 points to 29,332 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded rose 8.5 points to 3,343.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index surged 34 points to 9,415.50.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.2% to trade at $55.37 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 1% to trade at $51.23 a barrel. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on natural gas stocks in underground storage is scheduled for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.6%, STOXX Europe 600 Index gaining 0.3% and German DAX 30 index gaining 0.7%. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.3%, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.6%.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 2.38%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 2.64%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.72% and India’s BSE Sensex rose 0.4%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Bernstein upgraded VMware, Inc. VMW from Market Perform to Outperform and raised the price target from $171 to $181.

VMware shares fell 1.3% to close at $151.56 on Wednesday.

Breaking News

• Nokia Corporation NOK posted better-than-expected results for the fourth quarter.
• QUALCOMM, Inc. QCOM reported better-than-expected earnings for its first quarter.
• GoPro Inc GPRO reported weaker-than-expected results for its fourth quarter.
• FireEye Inc FEYE reported upbeat results for its fourth quarter, but issued weak outlook.