A Peek Into The Markets: U.S. Stock Futures Up Ahead Of Durable Goods Orders, Consumer Sentiment Data

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade. Data on durable goods orders for April will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, while the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index for May is schedule for release at 10:00 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is set to speak at 9:20 a.m. ET, while Chicago Fed President Charles Evans will speak at 11:45 a.m. ET. Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic is set to speak at 11:45 a.m. ET, while Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan will speak at 11:45 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 50 points to 24,858.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 5 points to 2,733.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 23.50 points to 6,982.50. U.S. markets will be closed Monday for the Memorial Day holiday.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 2.01 percent to trade at $77.21 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures dropped 1.78 percent to trade at $69.45 a barrel. The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week will be released at 1:00 p.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mostly higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.94 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index gaining 0.40 percent and German DAX 30 index gaining 1.05 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.28 percent, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.56 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.06 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.56 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index dipped 0.42 percent and India’s BSE Sensex climbed 0.76 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Stifel Nicolaus upgraded PayPal Holdings, Inc. PYPL from Hold to Buy.

PayPal shares rose 1.19 percent to $82.52 in pre-market trading.

Breaking news

• Foot Locker, Inc. FL reported better-than-expected results for its first quarter.



• Hibbett Sports, Inc. HIBB reported weaker-than-expected results for its first quarter.



• Ross Stores, Inc. ROST reported upbeat earnings for its first quarter, but issued weak forecast for the current quarter.



• Gap Inc GPS posted downbeat earnings for its first quarter on Thursday. Comps were up 1 percent in the quarter.