A Peek Into The Markets: U.S. Stock Futures Signal Higher Start On Wall Street

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade. The Labor Department's JOLTS report for November is schedule for release at 10:00 a.m. ET. Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari is set to speak in Minnesota at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 50 points to 25,300.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 1.50 points to 2,748.25. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index climbed 8.25 points to 6,696.00.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.30 percent to trade at $67.82 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures gained 0.50 percent to trade at $61.75 a barrel.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.19 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index gaining 0.30 percent and German DAX 30 index gaining 0.15 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.37 percent, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.41 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.57 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 0.36 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.13 percent and India’s BSE Sensex climbed 0.26 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Susquehanna downgraded Under Armour Inc (NYSE: UAA) from Neutral to Negative.

Under Armour shares fell 3.69 percent to $15.39 in pre-market trading.

Breaking news

• Target (NYSE: TGT) reported a 3.4 percent rise in its same store sales for November and December. The company also raised its earnings guidance for fourth quarter and FY2017.
• Express (NYSE: EXPR) lowered its FY2017 earnings guidance from $0.43-0.47 per share to $0.33-0.35 per share.
• A Schulman Inc (NASDAQ: SHLM) reported stronger-than-expected results for its first quarter on Monday. The company reaffirmed its fiscal 2018 EPS outlook.
• Seagate Technology PLC (NASDAQ: STX) said it sees second-quarter sales coming in $160 million higher than estimates, at $2.9 billion. Earlier in the day, Cowen said that Seagate's minority stake in the cryptocurrency Ripple is estimated to be worth around $2 billion on paper.