A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Up Ahead Of Economic Data

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade. International trade report for November is schedule for release at 8:30 a.m. ET, while data on November factory orders will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. The ISM's non-manufacturing index for December is schedule for release at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 17 points to 28,659 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded rose 2.4 points to 3,246.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 26 points to 8,873.50.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 0.8% to trade at $68.35 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures fell 0.7% to trade at $62.82 a barrel.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.2%, STOXX Europe 600 Index climbing 0.4% and German DAX 30 index gaining 0.9%. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.2%, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.4%.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 1.6%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.34%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.69% and India’s BSE Sensex rose 0.47%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Longbow Research downgraded Hexcel Corporation (NYSE: HXL) from Neutral to Underperform and announced a $62 price target.

Hexcel shares fell 0.5% to close at $75.36 on Monday.

Breaking News

• AngioDynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ: ANGO) reported upbeat Q2 earnings, while sales missed views.
• Intra-Cellular Therapies Inc (NASDAQ: ITCI) reported a proposed public offering of 10,000,000 shares of common stock.
• Pier 1 Imports Inc (NYSE: PIR) reported a wider Q3 loss and announced plans to reduce store footprint by up to 450 locations. The retailer posted a quarterly net loss of $60 million, or $14.15 a share, versus a year-ago net loss of $50.4 million, or $12.49 per share.
• Microchip Technology (NASDAQ: MCHP) narrowed preliminary Q3 sales guidance from $1.244 billion-$1.298 billion to $1.281 billion-$1.288 billion, versus the $1.24 billion estimate..