A Peek Into The Markets: U.S. Stock Futures Edge Higher Ahead Of Fed Speakers

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade. The current account data for the fourth quarter will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank President Esther George is set to speak in Washington, D.C. at 12:00 p.m. ET, while Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester will speak in Richmond, Va. at 6:00 p.m. ET. Boston Federal Reserve Bank President Eric Rosengren will speak in Bali, Indonesia at 9:45 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 15 points to 20,883.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 4 points to 2,374.25. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index surged 11 points to 5,429.50.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures gained 0.76 percent to trade at $52.01 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.74 percent to trade at $49.27 a barrel.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mostly higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.63 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index rising 0.13 percent and German DAX 30 index gaining 0.03 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading lower by 0.19 percent, while French CAC 40 Index climbed 0.24 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.34 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 0.37 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.33 percent and India’s BSE Sensex fell 0.11 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Bernstein downgraded Kellogg Company K from Market Perform to Underperform.

Kellogg shares fell 0.29 percent to $74.76 in pre-market trading.

Breaking news

• Lennar Corporation LEN reported better-than-expected profit for its first quarter on Tuesday.



• General Mills, Inc. GIS reported upbeat earnings for its fiscal third quarter, while sales missed estimates.



• Genesis Energy, L.P. GEL disclosed that it has priced its public offering of 4 million common units for gross proceeds of $124 million.



• South State Corporation SSB reported that it has increased its buyback plan from 250,000 shares to 1 million shares.