A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Up Ahead Of Economic Reports

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade, ahead of earnings from V.F. Corporation VFC and JD.com, Inc. JD. Data on retail sales for April and the Empire State manufacturing index for May will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Data on industrial production for April will be released at 9:15 a.m. ET, while data on business inventories for March, the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index for May and the Labor Department's JOLTS report for March will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET.

The U.S. is now the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic with the highest number of cases and deaths around the world. Total COVID-19 cases in the U.S. exceeded 1,417,880 with around 85,900 deaths. Russia reported a total of at least 252,240 confirmed cases, while Britain confirmed over 234,440 cases.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 71 points to 23,605 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded rose 7.6 points to 2,854.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index rose 41.5 points to 9,121.00.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 2.5% to trade at $31.91 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 2.4% to trade at $28.21 a barrel. The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week is scheduled for release at 1:00 p.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.1%, STOXX Europe 600 Index climbing 1% and German DAX 30 index gaining 1.4%. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 1.3%, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.8%.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.62%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.14%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.07% and India’s BSE Sensex fell 0.2%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at B. Riley FBR upgraded Applied Materials, Inc. AMAT from Neutral to Buy and raised the price target from $56 to $72.

Applied Materials shares rose 4% to $56.62 in pre-market trading.

Breaking News

• Applied Materials, Inc. AMAT reported weaker-than-expected results for its second quarter on Thursday.
• Amazon Inc. AMZN announced plans to sell reusable face shields at cost, first to medical professionals and later to all customers.
• Applied DNA Sciences Inc APDN reported weaker-than-expected results for its second quarter. The company’s shares jumped 71% on Thursday after the company announced it has received FDA emergency use authorization for its coronavirus diagnostic assay kit.
• Apple Inc. AAPL confirmed to Bloomberg that it had acquired virtual reality startup NextVR.