A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Up; Jobless Claims Data In Focus

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade, after closing mostly lower in the previous session. Data on initial jobless claims for the latest week will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Analysts expect new unemployment claims consensus of 1.22 million for the June 13 week, down from 1.542 million in the previous week. The Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index for June is scheduled for release at 8:30 a.m. ET, while the index of leading economic indicators will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari is set to speak at 11:00 a.m. ET, while Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester will speak at 12:15 p.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard is set to speak at 2:00 p.m. ET, while Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President Mary Daly will speak at 7:00 p.m. ET.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total cases in the country exceeding 2,163,290 with around 117,710 deaths. Russia reported a total of at least 560,270 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 955,370 cases.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 76 points to 26,101 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded rose 7.40 points to 3,114.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index rose 38.25 points to 10,021.25.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 1% to trade at $41.12 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.9% to trade at $38.30 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.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mostly higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.3% and STOXX Europe 600 Index gaining 0.1%. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.2%, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.1% and German DAX 30 climbed 0.1%.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.45%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.07%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.12% and India’s BSE Sensex rose 1.8%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Mizuho initiated coverage on Neoleukin Therapeutics, Inc. NLTX with a Buy rating and a price target of $21.

Neoleukin Therapeutics shares rose 1.7% to close at $13.52 on Wednesday.

Breaking News

• ABM Industries, Inc. ABM reported better-than-expected results for its second quarter.
• Spotify Technology SA SPOT has signed an exclusive deal with reality star Kim Kardashian West for a podcast, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.
• Team, Inc. TISI reported downbeat results for its first quarter on Wednesday.
• Unites States Steel Corp X reported a 50 million share common stock offering.