Benzinga | Oct 27, 2020 06:16AM EDT

A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Edge Higher Ahead Of Earnings

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded slightly higher in early pre-market trade as investors are awaiting earnings from 3M Co (NYSE:MMM), Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK), Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT). Wall Street closed sharply lower in the prior session following rise in Covid-19 cases and uncertainty over U.S. stimulus.

Data on durable goods orders for September will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The S&P Corelogic Case-Shiller home price index for August and the FHFA house price index for August will be released at 9:00 a.m. ET. The Conference Board's consumer confidence index for October and the Richmond Fed's manufacturing index for October will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 20 points to 27,601 while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures traded rose 4.50 points to 3,398.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 32 points to 11,524.25.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 8,704,520 with around 225,730 deaths. India reported a total of at least 7,946,420 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 5,409,850 cases.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 1% to trade at $41.20 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.9% to trade at $38.91 a barrel. The American Petroleum Institute's report on crude supplies will be released later in the day.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were lower today after recording sharp losses in the previous session. The Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.1% and STOXX Europe 600 Index dropped 0.5%. The French CAC 40 Index fell 0.8%, while German DAX 30 declined 0.4% and London's FTSE 100 fell 0.2%. French producer prices rose 0.2% in September, while Spain's unemployment rate increased to 16.26% in the third quarter.



Asian markets traded mixed today. Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.04%, China's Shanghai Composite gained 0.10%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index declined 0.53% and India's BSE Sensex rose 0.8%. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 traded lower by 1.7%. The industrial profit for China in September grew 10.1% year-over-year but is down 2.4% year-to-date.



Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Chardan Capital initiated coverage on Immunome, Inc. (NASDAQ:IMNM) with a Buy rating and announced a price target of $18..

Immunome shares rose 3.9% to close at $12.20 on Monday.

Breaking News

* American International Group Inc (NYSE:AIG) named Peter S. Zaffino as CEO, who currently serves as the president of the insurance giant and announced plans to spinoff its life and retirement business.

* HSBC Holdings Plc (NYSE:HSBC) beat analyst estimates for the third-quarter earnings. Q3 revenue dropped to $11.9 billion marking an 11% decrease year-over-year..

* Twilio Inc (NYSE:TWLO) reported upbeat results for its third quarter and issued strong sales forecast for the fourth quarter.

* Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) reported better-than-expected results for its third quarter.