A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Gain Ahead Of Consumer Price Index

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade, after closing lower in the previous session. Investors are awaiting earnings results from Brinker International, Inc. EAT and Cisco Systems, Inc. CSCO. The Consumer Price Index for July is scheduled for release at 8:30 a.m. ET, while the U.S. Treasury budget report for July will be released at 2:00 p.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President Eric Rosengren is set to speak at 10:00 a.m. ET, while Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Robert Kaplan will speak at 11:00 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President Mary Daly is set to speak at 3:00 p.m. ET.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 5,141,200 with around 164,530 deaths. Brazil confirmed over 3,057,470 cases, while India reported a total of at least 2,329,630 confirmed cases.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 249 points to 27,863 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded rose 24.35 points to 3,354.25. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index surged 90.75 points to 10,969.25.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.8% to trade at $44.86 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.8% to trade at $41.96 a barrel. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories in the U.S. will be released at 10:30 a.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mixed today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.1% and STOXX Europe 600 Index gaining 0.1%. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.4%, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.1% and German DAX 30 fell 0.2%.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.41%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 1.42% China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.63% and India’s BSE Sensex fell 0.2%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at RBC Capital upgraded J2 Global, Inc. JCOM from Sector Perform to Outperform and raised the price target from $78 to $90.

J2 Global shares rose 14.8% to close at $69.03 on Tuesday.

Breaking News

• Moderna Inc MRNA reported a Covid-19 vaccine agreement with the U.S. government. The U.S. government secured 100 million doses of Moderna’s vaccine candidate, mRNA-1273, and will pay up to $1.525 billion.
• Tesla Inc TSLA disclosed a 5-for-1 stock split, effective August 31, 2020.
• Airbnb Inc. is planning to file for an IPO with the US Securities and Exchange Commission in August, and go public before the end of this year, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
• Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Inc. RRGB reported weaker-than-expected results for its second quarter on Tuesday.