A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Climb On Stimulus Hopes

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade. The Dow Jones jumped over 500 points in the previous session after President Donald Trump supported signing of the $25 billion airline relief package and $135 billion Paycheck Protection Program.

Investors are awaiting earnings reports from Domino's Pizza, Inc. DPZ, Acuity Brands, Inc. AYI and Helen of Troy Limited HELE. Data on initial jobless claims for the latest week will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. New unemployment claims are expected to drop to 819,000 in the October 3 week from 837,000 in the prior week. Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President Eric Rosengren is set to speak at 12:10 p.m. ET, while Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Robert Kaplan will speak at 1:00 p.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic is set to speak at 2:00 p.m. ET, while Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Thomas Barkin will speak at 2:30 p.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Robert Kaplan is set to speak at 6:00 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 86 points to 28,265 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded rose 12.25 points to 3,419.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 76.75 points to 11,546.75.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 7,550,200 with around 211,820 deaths. India reported a total of at least 6,835,650 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 5,000,690 cases.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.9% to trade at $ 42.37 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.8% to trade at $40.25 a barrel. U.S. crude inventories gained 500,000 barrels for the week ended October 2, the Energy Information Administration reported. 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. The Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.8% and STOXX Europe 600 Index gained 0.2%. The French CAC 40 Index rose 0.1%, while German DAX 30 gained 0.2% and London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.3%. Germany reported smallest trade surplus in three months, with surplus narrowing to EUR 12.8 billion in August versus EUR 16.4 billion in the year-ago month.

Asian markets traded mostly higher today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.96%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 0.20% and India’s BSE Sensex rose 1.1%. Japanese current account surplus shrank to JPY 2103 billion in August from JPY 2135 billion in the same month of the prior year.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at JP Morgan upgraded Arista Networks Inc ANET from Neutral to Overweight and announced a $275 price target.

Arista shares rose 2.1% to $216.49 in pre-market trading.

Breaking News

• Costco Wholesale Corporation COST reported a 16.9% year-over-year surge in sales for September. The company’s same-store sales also climbed 15.5%.
• The Federal Reserve imposed a penalty of $400 million on Citigroup Inc C on Wednesday and asked the latter to “correct several longstanding deficiencies.”
• CareDx Inc CDNA reported strong preliminary revenue for the third quarter. The company said it sees Q3 sales of roughly $53 million.
• Guidewire Software, Inc. GWRE reported a $200 million buyback program.