A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Gain; Alphabet, Amazon.com Earnings In Focus

Pre-Open Movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade after the Dow Jones added over 200 points in the previous session. Investors are awaiting earnings reports from Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOGL) and Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE), United Parcel Service, Inc. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd – ADR (NYSE: FN).

Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Robert Kaplan is set to speak at 1:00 p.m. ET, while Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester and Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams will speak at 2:00 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 228 points to 30,338.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded rose 32 points to 3,797.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index surged 125.75 points to 13,362.25.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 26,321,450 with around 443,360 deaths. India reported a total of at least 10,766,240 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 9,229,320 cases.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 2.1% to trade at $57.55 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 2.2% to trade at $54.73 a barrel. The API’s report on crude inventories will be released later in the day.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today. The Spanish Ibex Index rose 1.6% and STOXX Europe 600 Index climbed 1.2%. The French CAC 40 Index climbed 1.8%, German DAX 30 gained 1.2% while London's FTSE 100 rose 0.7%. The Eurozone economy shrank 0.7% on quarter during the final three months of 2020. Annual inflation rate in France rose to 0.6% in January, while UK’s annual house price growth slowed to 6.4% in January.

Asian markets traded higher today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.97%, China’s Shanghai Composite rose 0.81% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 1.23%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.5%, while India’s BSE Sensex surged 2.5%. Hong Kong’s retail sales tumbled 14% year-over-year in December, while the Reserve Bank of Australia maintained its cash rate at 0.1%.

Broker Recommendation

Goldman Sachs upgraded Dell Technologies Inc (NYSE: DELL) from Neutral to Buy and raised the price target from $68 to $96.

Dell shares rose 2.8% to $76.00 in pre-market trading.

Check out other major ratings here

Breaking News

• Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: VRTX) reported weaker-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter.
• NXP Semiconductors NV (NASDAQ: NXPI) reported upbeat results for its fourth quarter and issued strong sales forecast for the current quarter.
• Li Auto Inc (NASDAQ: LI) reported a 355.8% year-over-year surge in vehicle deliveries for January.
• Cirrus Logic, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRUS) posted better-than-expected earnings and sales for its third quarter. The company also said it sees Q4 sales of $280 million to $320 million.

Check out other breaking news here