A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Climb Ahead Of Earnings

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade, ahead of earnings from Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) and Baker Hughes Company (NYSE: BKR). The Chicago Fed National Activity Index for December will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The FHFA house price index for November will be released at 9:00 a.m. ET, while existing home sales report for December is schedule for release at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 89 points to 29,268 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded rose 12.5 points to 3,332.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index climbed 59.5 points to 9,229.25.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 0.6% to trade at $64.21 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures fell 0.6% to trade at $58.02 a barrel.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mostly lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.4%, STOXX Europe 600 Index gaining 0.1% and German DAX 30 index gaining 0.1%. The UK’s FTSE index was trading lower by 0.1%, while French CAC 40 Index slipped 0.1%.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.70%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 1.27%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.28% and India’s BSE Sensex fell 0.5%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Citigroup downgraded The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE: EL) from Buy to Neutral and raised the price target from $223 to $230.

Estee Lauder shares fell 0.98% to close at $217.73 on Tuesday.

Breaking News

• Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) reported better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter.
• Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ: FITB) reported upbeat earnings for its fourth quarter.
• Netflix Inc (NASDAQ: NFLX) reported stronger-than-expected results for its fourth quarter. The company bested its international subscriber growth goals, increasing global streaming subscribers by 20% year over year.
• IBM (NYSE: IBM) reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter results. The company also issued fiscal year 2020 EPS guidance above analyst estimates.