A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Rise Ahead Of Economic Data; Crude Oil Gains 1%

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade after the Dow Jones dipped nearly 300 points in the previous week. Investors are awaiting earnings results from JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd JKS, and Weber WEBR

Data on import and export prices for August and the Empire State manufacturing index for September will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Data on industrial production for August will be released at 9:15 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 85 points to 34,668.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 12.25 points to 4,456.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 47.50 points to 15,434.50.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 41,365,250 with around 663,930 deaths. India reported a total of at least 33,316,750 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 21,019,830 cases.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.9% to trade at $74.26 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 1% to trade at $71.19 a barrel. Stocks of crude oil in the US dropped by 5.437 million barrels in the week ended September 10th, the API said. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories will be released at 10:30 a.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mixed today. The Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.4% and STOXX Europe 600 Index slipped 0.2%. The French CAC 40 Index fell 0.2%, London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.1% while German DAX 30 gained 0.1%. Industrial output in the Eurozone increased by 1.5% in July, while hourly labor costs fell 0.1% year-over-year in the June quarter. The annual inflation rate in France was confirmed at 1.9% in August. Annual inflation rate in the UK surged to 3.2% in August, while output prices in the UK rose 5.9% year-over-year in August.

Asian markets traded mostly lower today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.52%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1.84%, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.17%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.3%, while India’s BSE Sensex gained 0.8%. Chinese retail trade climbed 2.5% year-on-year in August, while industrial production rose 5.3% year-over-year in August. Average new home prices in China increased 4.2% year-over-year in August. The Westpac-Melbourne Institute Index of Consumer Sentiment in Australia rose 2.0% to 106.2 in September. Core machinery orders in Japan increased 0.9% month-over-month in July, while Reuters Tankan sentiment index for manufacturers declined to 18 in September from 33.

Broker Recommendation

Keybanc upgraded BIO-TECHNE Corp TECH from Sector Weight to Overweight and announced a $600 price target.

Bio-Techne shares rose 1.5% to close at $509.89 on Tuesday.

Check out other major ratings here

Breaking News

• Microsoft Corporation MSFT announced plans to buy back $60 billion worth of shares. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.62 per share, an increase of 6 cents, or 11%, over the previous quarter. Microsoft’s board of directors approved the appointment of Brad Smith as president and vice chair.
• Oracle Corp. ORCL co-founder Larry Ellison has asked former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to join the software company’s board of directors, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported on Tuesday.
• Pfizer Inc PFE projects to apply for U.S. authorization of its COVID-19 vaccine for children aged six months and five years in November, the Financial Times reported.
• Avalo Therapeutics Inc AVTX priced its 12.5 million share public offering of common stock at $2.20 per share.

Check out other breaking news here