Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded mostly higher in early pre-market trade, after recording a sharp decline in the previous session led by technology stocks. U.S. jobs report for August is scheduled for release at 8:30 a.m. ET. Nonfarm payrolls are expected to rise 1.400 million in August, versus a gain of 1.763 million in July. The unemployment rate is likely to drop to 9.8% from July's reading of 10.2%.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 142 points to 28,493 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded rose 13.50 points to 3,475. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index fell 37.75 points to 11,762.75.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 6,150,990 with around 186,790 deaths. Brazil confirmed over 4,041,630 cases, while India reported a total of at least 3,936,740 confirmed cases.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.3% to trade at $ 44.22 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.5% to trade at $41.59 a barrel. The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week will be released at 1:00 p.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 1.3% and STOXX Europe 600 Index gaining 0.5%. The French CAC 40 Index climbed 0.5%, while German DAX 30 rose 0.2% and London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.6%. German manufacturing orders increased for the third straight month, rising 2.8% in July. Construction activity in the Eurozone declined last month, with the IHS Markit construction PMI declining to 47.8 in August versus 48.9 in July.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei fell 1.11%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1.25% China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.87% and India’s BSE Sensex slipped 1.1%. The People's Bank of China reported injection of CNY 100 billion into the country’s markets.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Credit Suisse upgraded The Michaels Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:MIK) from Neutral to Outperform and raised the price target from $13 to $15.

Michaels Companies shares rose 2.8% to $9.97 in pre-market trading.

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