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

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade, after recording gains in the previous session. Fed’s Chair Jerome Powell testified before a House special commission on Tuesday, noting that the US economy has remained resilient and that the banking system has held up well during the ongoing crisis. Powell is set to speak today at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Investors are awaiting earnings from General Mills, Inc. GIS, HB Fuller Co FUL and Cintas Corporation CTAS. The FHFA house price index for July is scheduled for release at 9:00 a.m. ET, while the flash Composite Purchasing Managers' Index for September will be released at 9:45 a.m. ET. Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester is set to speak at 9:00 a.m. ET, while Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans is set to speak at 11:00 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President Eric Rosengren will speak at 12:00 p.m. ET, while Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic and Fed’s Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari will speak at 1:00 p.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President Mary Daly is set to speak at 3:00 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 209 points to 27,352 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded rose 17.50 points to 3,316.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 59.50 points to 11,209.00.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 6,897,430 with around 200,810 deaths. India reported a total of at least 5,646,010 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 4,591,360 cases.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 0.3% to trade at $41.60 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures fell 0.5% to trade at $39.61 a barrel. U.S. crude supplies climbed 691,000 barrels for the week ended September 18, the American Petroleum Institute reported. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories in the U.S. will be released at 10:30 a.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 1.2% and STOXX Europe 600 Index gaining 0.9%. The French CAC 40 Index climbed 1.3%, while German DAX 30 rose 1.3% and London’s FTSE 100 rose 1.3%. German manufacturing PMI increased to 56.6 in September versus 52.2 in August, while services PMI declined to 49.1 in September from previous reading of 52.5. Spain’s GDP contracted by 17.8% on quarter during the three months to June.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped 0.06%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.01% China’s Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.17% and India’s BSE Sensex fell 0.4%. Japanese manufacturing PMI edged higher to 47.3 in September versus a final reading of 47.2 in the previous month.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at KeyBanc downgraded KB Home KBH from Overweight to Sector Weight.

KB Home shares fell 1.5% to $39.89 in pre-market trading.

Breaking News

• NIKE, Inc. NKE reported stronger-than-expected results for its first quarter on Tuesday.
• Tesla Inc TSLA will remain in focus today as the company issued various updates at its highly-anticipated battery day event. However, the market wasn't too impressed with the company’s near-term goals, with shares dropping around 5% in pre-market trading.
• KKR & Co Inc. KKR announced plans to invest $754 million (INR 55.5 billion) in India's Reliance Retail Ventures Limited, a subsidiary of Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries.
• 3M Co MMM is exploring a sale of its food safety business division for $3.5 billion, Bloomberg reported.