A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Gain Ahead Of Morgan Stanley Earnings

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade, ahead of earnings from Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS). Data on initial jobless claims for the latest week, retail sales for December, import prices for December and Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index for January Data on will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Data on business inventories for November and the housing market index for January will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman is set to speak at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 77 points to 29,106 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures traded rose 10.45 points to 3,304.25. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 37.75 points to 9,097.75.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.6% to trade at $64.37 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.3% to trade at $58.00 a barrel. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on natural gas stocks in underground storage is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.1%, STOXX Europe 600 Index dropping 0.1% and German DAX 30 index dropping 0.3%. The UK's FTSE index was trading lower by 0.4%, while French CAC 40 Index dropped 0.1%.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.07%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.38%, China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.52% and India’s BSE Sensex rose 0.14%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Morgan Stanley downgraded Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) to Underweight from Equal Weight and raised the price target to $380 from $250.

Tesla shares fell 2.2% to $507.33 in pre-market trading.

Breaking News

• Alcoa Corp (NYSE: AA) reported weaker-than-expected fourth-quarter results. The company said it expects lower quarterly results in the bauxite segment due to lower pricing and seasonally lower volumes.
• Cornerstone OnDemand, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSOD) disclosed that it has acquired Clustree for $18.5 million in cash.
• XPO Logistics Inc (NYSE: XPO) reported the exploration of strategic alternatives for one or more business units, including a possible sale or spinoff.
• Global Water Resources Inc (NASDAQ: GWRS) announced a public offering of common stock with no disclosed size.