A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Up; Dow Futures Rise Over 200 Points

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade. The Labor Department’s JOLTS report for August and data on wholesale inventories for August will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is set to speak in Kansas City, Missouri at 11:00 a.m. ET, while Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank President Esther George will speak in Kansas City, Missouri at 11:00 a.m. ET. The Federal Open Market Committee will issue minutes of its latest meeting at 2:00 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 203 points to 26,341 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded rose 26.2 points to 2,918.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 80.25 points to 7,702.25.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.8% to trade at $58.72 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.8% to trade at $53.07 a barrel. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories in the U.S. is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.4%, STOXX Europe 600 Index climbing 0.5% and German DAX 30 index gaining 1%. The UK’s FTSE index was trading higher by 0.5%, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.7%.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.61%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.81%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.39% and India’s BSE Sensex climbed 1.72%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Bernstein downgraded FedEx Corporation (NYSE: FDX) from Outperform to Market Perform and announced a $153 price target.

FedEx shares fell 0.8% to $137.31 in pre-market trading.

Breaking News

• Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE: LEVI) reported stronger-than-expected earnings for its third quarter on Tuesday.
• ReneSola Ltd (NYSE: SOL) signed agreements to sell 22.3MW of China DG projects.
• FireEye Inc (NASDAQ: FEYE) said it expects Q3 sales at or above the high end of prior guidance range of $217 million to $221 million. The company projects billings within prior guidance range of $245 million to $255 million.
• Trilogy Metals Inc. (NYSE: TMQ) reported a Q3 loss of $0.09 per share, versus a year-ago loss of $0.08 per share.