A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Gain; All Eyes On Jobs Data

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade after the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq settled at record highs in the previous session. Investors are awaiting earnings reports from Cardinal Health Inc CAH and Estee Lauder Companies Inc EL and Aon PLC AON.

US jobs report for January is scheduled for release at 8:30 a.m. ET. Nonfarm payrolls are expected to increase 50,000 for January following an unexpected decline of 140,000 in the previous month. The unemployment rate, however, is likely to remain unchanged at 6.7%. International trade report for December will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, while data on consumer credit for December will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 134 points to 31,084.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded rose 17.25 points to 3,881.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index surged 44.75 points to 13,592.25.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 26,679,530 with around 455,860 deaths. India reported a total of at least 10,802,590 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 9,396,290 cases.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 1% to trade at $59.40 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.9% to trade at $56.75 a barrel. The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week is scheduled for release at 1:00 p.m. ET. US natural-gas supplies dropped 192 billion cubic feet last week, the Energy Information Administration reported Thursday.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were slightly higher today. The Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.6% and STOXX Europe 600 Index rose 0.4%. The French CAC 40 Index climbed 0.8%, German DAX 30 gained 0.1% while London's FTSE 100 rose 0.1%. French current account gap increased to EUR 1.2 billion in December from EUR 0.72 billion a year ago, while payroll employment in the private sector fell 0.2% for the fourth quarter. Germany’s factory orders fell 1.9% in December.

Asian markets traded mostly higher today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.54%, China’s Shanghai Composite fell 0.16% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.6%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 climbed 1.1%, while India’s BSE Sensex rose 0.3%. Japan’s index of leading economic indicators fell to 94.9 in December, while index of coincident economic indicators also dropped to 87.8 in December. The Reserve Bank of India maintained its benchmark repurchase rate at 4%. Retail sales in Australia dropped 4.1% month-over-month during December.

Broker Recommendation

KeyBanc maintained Pinterest Inc PINS with an Overweight and raised the price target from $86 to $92..

Pinterest shares climbed 10.9% to $86.30 in pre-market trading.

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Breaking News

• Johnson & Johnson JNJ disclosed that its subsidiary Janssen Biotech Inc has requested approval from the Food and Drug Administration for its single-dose COVID-19 vaccine candidate.
• Gilead Sciences, Inc. GILD reported better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter and also raised its quarterly dividend from $0.68 to $0.71 per share.
• Ford Motor Company F reported a surprise profit for the fourth quarter, while sales also exceeded estimates.
• Pinterest Inc PINS reported stronger-than-expected results for its fourth quarter. The company’s global monthly active users surged 37% year-over-year to 459 million during the quarter.

Check out other breaking news here