A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Rise Ahead Of Fed Speakers

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will testify before the Senate Banking Committee at 10:00 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President Patrick Harker is set to speak at 8:30 a.m. ET, while San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President Mary Daly will speak at 9:00 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 114 points to 29,343 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded rose 11.65 points to 3,369.25. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 46 points to 9,573.25.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 1.9% to trade at $55.06 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 1.5% to trade at $50.67 a barrel. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories in the U.S. 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 0.5%, STOXX Europe 600 Index climbing 0.4% and German DAX 30 index gaining 0.7%. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.4%, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.3%.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.74%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.87%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.87% and India’s BSE Sensex rose 0.85%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at HSBC upgraded Sprint Corporation S from Reduce to Hold.

Sprint shares rose 0.4% to $8.55 in pre-market trading.

Breaking News

• Akamai Technologies, Inc. AKAM reported stronger-than-expected results for its fourth quarter on Tuesday.
• Radware Ltd. RDWR reported weaker-than-expected results for its fourth quarter.
• SoftBank Group Corporation SFTBYon Wednesday reported its third-quarter earnings after the markets closed in Tokyo. SoftBank reported an operating profit of $23.5 million, 99.4% lower than the $3.98 billion posted in the similar quarter last year.
• LYFT Inc LYFT reported better-than-expected revenue and the number of active riders for the fourth quarter. The company also announced the acquisition of Flexdrive.