A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Rise; J&J Secures Emergency Authorization for Covid-19 Vaccine

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade after the House of Representatives voted early Saturday morning to approve President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion Coronavirus relief package. The U.S. Senate will begin considering the relief bill passed by the House over the weekend. Investors are awaiting earnings reports from DENTSPLY SIRONA Inc XRAY, Perrigo Company PLC PRGO, Nio Inc - ADR NIO and Zoom Video Communications Inc ZM.

The Markit manufacturing PMI for February is scheduled for release at 9:45 a.m. ET, while the ISM manufacturing composite index for February and data on construction spending for January will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams is set to speak at 9:00 a.m. ET, while Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard will speak at 9:05 a.m. Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic is set to speak at 2:00 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 315 points to 31,227.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 42.50 points at 3,851.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index rose 201.25 points to 13,112.25.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 28,605,660 with around 513,090 deaths. India reported a total of at least 11,112,240 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 10,551,250 cases.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 1.9% to trade at $65.62 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 1.9% to trade at $62.66 a barrel. The total number of active U.S. oil rigs rose by 4 to 309 rigs this week, Baker Hughes Inc reported Friday.

A Peek Into Global Markets


European markets were higher today. The Spanish Ibex Index rose 1.9% and STOXX Europe 600 Index climbed 1.8%. The French CAC 40 Index rose 1.7%, German DAX 30 climbed 1.3% while London's FTSE 100 rose 1.9%. The IHS Markit Eurozone manufacturing PMI was revised slightly higher to 57.9 in February from a preliminary estimate of 57.7. Spain’s manufacturing PMI climbed to 52.9 in February from 49.3 a month ago, while German manufacturing PMI increased to 60.7 in February from 57.1 in January. French manufacturing PMI climbed to 56.1 in February from 51.6 in January.

Asian markets traded higher today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 2.41%, China’s Shanghai Composite gained 1.21% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 1.63%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.7%, while India’s BSE Sensex rose 1.2%. The Caixin China general manufacturing PMI fell to 50.9 in February from January's reading of 51.5, while Japan’s manufacturing PMI climbed to 51.4 in February versus 49.8 a month ago. Australian manufacturing PMI fell to 56.9 in February from January's level of 57.2, while business inventories were unchanged quarter-on-quarter during the three months to December 2020.


Broker Recommendation

Chardan Capital maintained Moderna, Inc. MRNA with a Buy and raised the price target from $107 to $182.

Moderna shares rose 2.1% to $158.00 in pre-market trading.

Check out other major ratings here

 

Breaking News

  • AstraZeneca plc AZN sold its 7.7% stake in Moderna Inc. MRNA for over $1 billion, the Times reported.
  • Chinook Therapeutics Inc KDNY and Evotec SE EVTCY have collaborated for the discovery and development of precision medicine therapies for patients with chronic kidney diseases (CKD).
  • Rocket Lab USA Inc. is nearing a deal to go public through a merger with Vector Acquisition Corp. VACQ, the Wall Street Journal reported.
  • Johnson & Johnson's JNJ single-shot coronavirus vaccine candidate has been cleared as the third vaccine in the U.S. for emergency use, a day after it received the unanimous backing of an independent Food and Drug Administration expert panel.

Check out other breaking news here

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Posted In: EarningsNewsEurozoneFuturesSmall CapGlobalPre-Market OutlookMarketsA Peek Into The Markets
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