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

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade. South Korea confirmed 516 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday. Mainland China reported 119 new confirmed cases on March 3, down from 125 cases on March 2. The national employment report from Automated Data Processing for February will be released at 8:15 a.m. ET, while US Services Purchasing Managers' Index for February is scheduled for release at 9:45 a.m. ET. The ISM's non-manufacturing index for February will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. The Federal Open Market Committee will release its Beige Book report at 2:00 p.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard is set to speak at 6:30 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 569 points to 26,449 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded rose 60.9 points to 3,058.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index surged 187.5 points to 8,770.00.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 1.6% to trade at $52.69 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 1.8% to trade at $48.02 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 0.7%, STOXX Europe 600 Index surging 1.1% and German DAX 30 index climbing 0.9%. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 1.3%, while French CAC 40 Index rose 1.1%.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.08%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slipped 0.24%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index climbed 0.63% and India’s BSE Sensex fell 0.55%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Wells Fargo upgraded Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. CMG from Equal-Weight to Overweight and announced a $1000 price target.

Chipotle shares fell 4.2% to close at $736.07 on Tuesday.

Breaking News

• Zogenix, Inc. ZGNX priced its 8.5 million share public offering of common stock at $23.50 per share.
• Urban Outfitters, Inc. URBN reported downbeat results for its fourth quarter on Tuesday.
• Nordstrom, Inc. JWN reported weaker-than-expected results for its fourth quarter on Tuesday.
• Ross Stores, Inc. ROST reported strong results for its fourth quarter and raised its quarterly dividend. However, the company issued weak earnings forecast for the first quarter.