A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Up; Biden Unveils Infrastructure Plan

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade following President Joe Biden’s announcement of a new $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan. The Nasdaq index jumped more than 200 points in the previous session. Investors are awaiting earnings results from CarMax, Inc KMX, and Franklin Covey Co. FC.

The Challenger job-cut report for March is scheduled for release at 7:30 a.m. ET, while data on initial jobless claims for the latest week will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The manufacturing PMI for March is scheduled for release at 9:45 a.m. ET, while the ISM manufacturing composite index for March and data on construction spending for February will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker is set to speak at 1:00 p.m. ET, while Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Robert Kaplan will speak at 6:05 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 51 points to 32,949.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 15.50 points at 3,983.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index rose 126 points to 13,215.75.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 30,460,340 with around 552,070 deaths. Brazil confirmed over 12,748,740 cases, while India reported a total of at least 12,221,660 confirmed cases.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 1.3% to trade at $63.54 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 1.6% to trade at $60.10 a barrel. US crude-oil inventories dropped 900,000 barrels last week, the Energy Information Administration said. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on natural gas stocks in underground storage is scheduled for release at 10:30 a.m. ET, while the Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week will be released at 1:00 p.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today. The Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.2% and STOXX Europe 600 Index gained 0.6%. The French CAC 40 Index rose 0.4%, German DAX 30 gained 0.5% while London's FTSE 100 rose 0.6%. The Eurozone manufacturing PMI was revised higher to 62.5 for March versus a preliminary reading of 62.4. The UK’s manufacturing PMI increased to 58.9 in March from a preliminary reading of 57.9, while German manufacturing PMI rose to 66.6 in March from 60.7 in February. French manufacturing PMI climbed to 59.3 in March from 56.1 in February, while Spain’s manufacturing PMI increased to 56.9 from 52.9.

Asian markets traded higher today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.72%, China’s Shanghai Composite climbed 0.71% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 1.97%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.6%, while India’s BSE Sensex rose 0.9%. China’s manufacturing PMI dropped to 50.6 in March versus 50.9 a month ago, while Japanese manufacturing PMI rose to 52.7 in March versus a preliminary estimate of 52.0. Retail sales in Australia fell 0.8% in February, while trade surplus shrank to AUD 7.53 billion in February from January's level of AUD 9.62 billion. The IHS Markit manufacturing PMI for Australia slipped to 56.8 in March from previous month’s level of 56.9.

Broker Recommendation

Needham initiated coverage on Perion Network Ltd PERI with a Buy rating and announced a price target of $21.

Perion Network shares rose 2.8% to $18.40 in pre-market trading.

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Breaking News

• Micron Technology, Inc. MU reported better-than-expected results for its second quarter and issued strong forecast for the current quarter.
• XPeng Inc. XPEV reported strong deliveries for the month of March as well as for the first quarter. The company delivered 5,102 smart EVs for the month of March. The March number represented a 384% year-over-year increase and 130% month-over-month growth.
• Guess?, Inc. GES reported upbeat earnings for its fourth quarter, while sales missed views.
• Riot Blockchain Inc RIOT reported net income on a GAAP basis of $3.9 million for the fourth quarter, versus a net loss of $3.4 million in the year-ago period. The company said as a part of its fourth-quarter results that it has increased its Bitcoin (BTC) hashing capacity by 460% on a year-on-year basis.

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