A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Up Ahead Of Home Price, Consumer Confidence Data

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade. The S&P Corelogic Case-Shiller Home Price Index and the FHFA House Price Index will be released at 9:00 a.m. ET. The Conference Board consumer confidence index is schedule for release at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 35 points to 28,475 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded rose 3.9 points to 3,227.25. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 9.3 points to 8,743.00.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.1% to trade at $66.76 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.1% to trade at $61.71 a barrel.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mostly lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.5%, STOXX Europe 600 Index declining 0.1% and German DAX 30 index dropping 0.7%. The UK's FTSE index was trading lower by 0.3%, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.1%.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.76%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped 0.46%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.33% and India’s BSE Sensex fell 0.73%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Jefferies maintained Sol Gel Technologies Ltd (NASDAQ: SLGL) with a Buy and raised the price target from $14 to $24.

Sol-Gel shares rose 0.7% to $14.70 in pre-market trading.

Breaking News

• Core Laboratories N.V. (NYSE: CLB) lowered its Q4 guidance and issued weak forecast for the first quarter. The company also announced plans to cut its quarterly dividend.
• Four Corners Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE: FCPT) announced the acquisition of five properties from Washington Prime Group for $8.6 million.
• Urovant Sciences Ltd (NASDAQ: UROV) reported the submission of New Drug Application for vibegron for the treatment of overactive bladder.
• Weidai Ltd. (NYSE: WEI) reported Q3 earnings of $0.29 per share, down from $0.41 per share in the year-ago period. Its sales slipped to $107.149 million from $150.945 million.