A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Rise Ahead Of Fed Speakers

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade. New York Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams is set to speak in Zurich, Switzerland at 8:15 a.m. ET, while Boston Federal Reserve Bank President Eric Rosengren will speak in New York at 11:20 a.m. ET. Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Robert Kaplan will speak in Corpus Christi, Texas at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 56 points to 27,134 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 6.35 points to 3,014.25. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 23.25 points to 7,941.25.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.8% to trade at $64.90 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 1.1% to trade at $58.75 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 0.5%, STOXX Europe 600 Index rising 0.4% and German DAX 30 index gaining 0.2%. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.2%, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.5%.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.16%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.13%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.24% and India’s BSE Sensex jumped 5.32%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Bank of America downgraded Xilinx, Inc. XLNX from Buy to Neutral.

Xilinx shares fell 3% to $100.48 in pre-market trading.

Breaking News

• Steelcase Inc. SCS reported better-than-expected Q2 results.
• Scholastic Corp SCHL reported better-than-expected results for its first quarter.
• McDermott International Inc MDR announced plans to explore strategic alternatives for Lummus Technology. The company recently received unsolicited offers to acquire Lummus with a valuation of over $2.5 billion..
• Western Digital Corp WDC announced the sale of IntelliFlash business to DDN. The company also intends to exit storage-systems business.