A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Gain Ahead Of Economic Data

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade. Data on durable goods orders for August and consumer spending for August will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index for September is schedule for release at 10:00 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Board of Governors Vice Chairman for Supervision Randal Quarles is set to speak in Washington, D.C. at 8:30 a.m. ET, while Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank President Patrick Harker will speak in New York at 12:00 p.m. ET. Data on farm prices for August will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 80 points to 26,972 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded rose 10.75 points to 2,991.25. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index climbed 29 points to 7,816.25.

Oil prices traded mostly flat as Brent crude futures fell 0.2% to trade at $61.61 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.1% to trade at $56.45 a barrel. The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week is schedule for release at 1:00 p.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.6%, STOXX Europe 600 Index gaining 0.5% and German DAX 30 index rising 0.8%. The UK’s FTSE index was trading higher by 1.2%, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.3%.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.77%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped 0.33%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.11% and India’s BSE Sensex fell 0.43%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Citigroup downgraded H.B. Fuller Company (NYSE: FUL) from Neutral to Sell and lowered the price target from $48 to $41.

H.B. Fuller shares fell 1.7% to close at $46.70 on Thursday.

Breaking News

• Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) reported upbeat results for its fourth quarter. The company guided to first-quarter adjusted EPS of 39-53 cents and sales of $4.8-$5.2 billion.
• Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE: MTN) reported better-than-expected results for its fourth quarter on Thursday.
• Global Ship Lease, Inc. (NYSE: GSL) priced upsized 6.6 million share public offering of class A common shares at $7.25 per share.
• Progress Software Corp (NASDAQ: PRGS) reported stronger-than-expected earnings for its third quarter and raised its quarterly dividend from $0.15 to $0.16. However, the company issued weak sales forecast for FY19.