A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Surge Ahead of Earnings

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade after recording gains in the previous session on hopes of a COVID-19 vaccine rollout. Investors are awaiting earnings from Dollar Tree, Inc. DLTR, Hormel Foods Corp HRL, Best Buy Co Inc BBY, HP Inc HPQ and Dell Technologies Inc DELL.

The S&P Corelogic Case-Shiller home price index for September will be released at 9:45 a.m. ET, while the FHFA house price index for September is scheduled for release at 9:00 a.m. ET. The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index and the Richmond Fed's manufacturing index for November will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard is set to speak at 11:00 a.m. ET, while Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams will speak at 12:00 p.m. ET. Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Richard Clarida is set to speak at 12:45 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 273 points to 29,819 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded rose 27.25 points to 3,603.25. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 42.50 points to 11,947.75.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 12,420,860 with around 258,700 deaths. India reported a total of at least 9,177,840 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 6,087,600 cases.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.8% to trade at $46.42 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 1% to trade at $43.47 a barrel. The API’s report on crude stocks will be released later during the day.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today. The Spanish Ibex Index rose 1.1% and STOXX Europe 600 Index gained 0.7%. The French CAC 40 Index rose 1.2%, while German DAX 30 gained 0.9% and London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.9%. German GDP grew by a record 8.5% in the third quarter, while French manufacturing climate indicator slipped to 92 in November versus a revised reading of 94 in October.

Asian markets traded higher today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 2.5%, China’s Shanghai Composite fell 0.34%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.39% and India’s BSE Sensex rose 1.1%. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 traded higher by 1.3%. Hong Kong’s trade deficit increased to HKD 36.8 billion in October versus HKD 30.6 billion in the year-ago month.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at KeyBanc initiated coverage on Palo Alto Networks, Inc. PANW with a Overweight rating.

Palo Alto shares rose 1.4% to close at $296.04 on Monday.

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