A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Surge On Economic Recovery Hopes

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade after major global indices recorded historic gains for the November month despite declining on the last day. Investors are awaiting earnings from Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co HPE, Momo Inc MOMO and salesforce.com, inc. CRM.

The Markit manufacturing PMI for November is scheduled for release at 9:45 a.m. ET, while the ISM manufacturing composite index for November and data on construction spending for October will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will testify before the Senate at 10:00 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard is set to speak at 11:00 a.m. ET, while Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President Mary Daly will speak at 1:15 p.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans is set to speak at 3:00 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 335 points to 29,964.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded rose 36.75 points to 3,660.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 95.75 points to 12,372.75.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 13,545,010 with around 268,080 deaths. India reported a total of at least 9,462,800 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 6,335,870 cases.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.8% to trade at $48.28 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.8% to trade at $45.68 a barrel.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today. The Spanish Ibex Index rose 1.2% and STOXX Europe 600 Index gained 0.8%. The French CAC 40 Index rose 0.9%, while German DAX 30 gained 1% and London’s FTSE 100 rose 1.6%. The Eurozone manufacturing PMI rose to 53.8 in November versus a preliminary of 53.6. Spanish manufacturing activity shrank to 49.8 in November, while German manufacturing PMI declined to 57.8 in November from 58.2 in October. The UK’s Nationwide House Price Index rose 6.5% year-over-year in November.

Asian markets traded higher today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 1.34%, China’s Shanghai Composite surged 1.77%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 0.86% and India’s BSE Sensex rose 1.2%. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 traded higher by 1.1%. Japan's unemployment rate increase to 3.1% in October, while manufacturing activity PMI improved to 49 in November. China’s manufacturing PMI improved significantly to 54.9 in November. The Reserve Bank of Australia held its interest rate of 0.10%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at B of A Securities downgraded BioNTech SE - ADR BNTX from Buy to Neutral.

BioNTech shares rose 2.1% to $126.81 in pre-market trading.

Breaking News

• Zoom Video Communications Inc ZM reported better-than-expected earnings and sales for its third quarter and issued upbeat guidance for the current quarter. However, the company’s gross margin shrank in the quarter.
• Facebook Inc FB said Monday it will launch Facebook News in the United Kingdom in January 2021 and that it plans to pay publishers for content not already on the platform.
• Tesla Inc’s TSLA shares will be added to the S&P 500 at full float-adjusted market cap weight. The move comes along with the S&P quarterly rebalance, which will happen on December 18. The company Tesla is replacing in the index will be announced on December 11. Tesla supplier LG Chem is planning to double its battery cell manufacturing capacity in China to meet the electric vehicle maker's demand, Reuters reported Tuesday.
• Nio Inc – ADR NIO reported another monthly record deliveries for its electric vehicles. The company’s November deliveries jumped 109.3% year-over-year to a record monthly number of 5,291 units.