A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Signal Higher Start On Wall Street

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade. South Korea confirmed 374 new coronavirus cases, taking total tally to 5,186 cases. Mainland China reported 125 new confirmed cases on March 2, down from 202 on March 1. Chicago Federal Reserve chief Charles Evans is set to speak at 6:30 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 325 points to 26,793 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded rose 34.15 points to 3,099.25. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index surged 114 points to 8,905.25.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 2.8% to trade at $53.36 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 3.3% to trade at $48.30 a barrel.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 2.6%, STOXX Europe 600 Index surging 2.8% and German DAX 30 index climbing 2.7%. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 2.3%, while French CAC 40 Index rose 2.3%.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average fell 1.22%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slipped 0.03%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index climbed 0.74% and India’s BSE Sensex rose 1.26%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Morgan Stanley downgraded Forty Seven, Inc. FTSV from Overweight to Equal-Weight and raised the price target from $45 to $95.5.

Forty Seven shares rose 61.9% to close at $93.91 on Monday.

Breaking News

• Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. TMO announced plans to acquire QIAGEN N.V. QGEN for €39 per share in cash.
• Visa Inc V reported it sees Q2 revenue to be roughly 2.5-3.5% lower than its prior outlook.
• Tilray Inc TLRY a net loss of $219.2 million, or $2.14 a share for the fourth quarter, versus a year-ago loss of $31 million or $0.33 per share. The company also reported worse-than-expected Q4 sales.
• Mellanox Technologies, Ltd. MLNX agreed to acquire privately held Titan IC.