A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Climb Ahead Of Powell's Testimony

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will testify before Congress at 10:00 a.m. ET. San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly is set to speak at 6:00 a.m. ET while Federal Reserve Governor Randal Quarles will speak at 12:15 p.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard will speak at 1:30 p.m. ET, while Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari will speak at 2:15 p.m. ET. The Labor Department's JOLTS report for December is scheduled for release at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 52 points to 29,297 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded rose 5.75 points to 3,358.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 29.25 points to 9,556.75.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 1.5% to trade at $54.08 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 1.5% to trade at $50.29 a barrel.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.2%, STOXX Europe 600 Index climbing 0.6% and German DAX 30 index gaining 0.7%. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.7%, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.4%.

In Asian markets, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 1.26%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.39% and India’s BSE Sensex fell 0.39%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at JP Morgan downgraded World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: WWE) from Overweight to Neutral.

WWE shares fell 1.1% to close at $42.05 on Monday.

Breaking News

• Callaway Golf Company (NYSE: ELY) reported worse-than-expected Q4 earnings and issued weak Q1 sales guidance.
• Louisiana-Pacific Corporation (NYSE: LPX) reported weaker-than-expected results for its fourth quarter.
• Davita Inc (NYSE: DVA) reported upbeat earnings for its fourth quarter and raised FY20 EPS guidance.
• Hilton Hotels Corporation (NYSE: HLT) reported upbeat results for its fourth quarter, but issued weak FY20 earnings forecast.