A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Mixed Ahead Of Earnings, Jobless Claims Data

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded mixed in early pre-market trade, following a strong rise in the previous session. Investors are awaiting earnings results Dollar General Inc. DG, Dollar Tree Inc. DLTR, Abercrombie & Fitch Inc. ANF, Dell Technologies Inc. DELL and Costco Wholesale Corporation COST. Data on durable goods orders for April, Gross Domestic Product for the first quarter and initial jobless claims for the latest week will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The pending home sales index for April is scheduled for release at 10:00 a.m. ET, while the Kansas City Fed manufacturing index for May will be released at 11:00 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams is set to speak at 11:00 a.m. ET.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world. Total coronavirus cases in the U.S. exceeded 1,699,930 with around 100,440 deaths. Russia reported a total of at least 379,050 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 411,820 cases.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 64 points to 25,598 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded fell 3.90 points to 3,031.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index fell 51.5 points to 9,381.00.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 1.6% to trade at $34.88 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures fell 2.1% to trade at $32.13 a barrel. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on natural gas stocks in underground storage is scheduled for release at 10:30 a.m. ET, while weekly report on petroleum inventories will be released at 11:00 a.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mostly higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.2%, STOXX Europe 600 Index surging 0.7% and German DAX 30 index gaining 0.2%. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.5%, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.5%.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei rose 2.32%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.72%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.33% and India’s BSE Sensex rose 1.9%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Imperial Capital downgraded The Walt Disney Company DIS from In-Line to Underperform and lowered the price target from $107 to $105.

Disney shares fell 0.4% to $121.00 in pre-market trading.

Breaking News

• Triumph Group, Inc. TGI reported better-than-expected results for its fourth quarter.
• HP Inc HPQ reported better-than-expected earnings for its fiscal second quarter, while sales missed expectations. The company also issued weak earnings guidance for the third quarter.
• Tech Data Corporation TECD reported better-than-expected results for its first quarter.
• NetApp Inc. NTAP posted upbeat earnings for its fourth quarter, but issued weak profit forecast for the first quarter.