Pre-open movers
U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade, ahead of earnings from Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:
GS). Data on housing starts for March will be released at 8:30
a.m. ET, while data on industrial production for March will be released at 9:15 a.m. ET. San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank
President John Williams is set to speak in Madrid at 9:15 a.m. ET, while Federal Reserve Vice Chairman for Supervision Governor
Randal Quarles will speak in Washington at 10:00 a.m. ET. Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank President Patrick Harker is set to
speak in Philadelphia at 11:00 a.m. ET, while Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans will speak in Chicago at 1:40
p.m. ET.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 145 points to 24,708.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose
13.25 points to 2,694.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 33.50 points to 6,745.25.
Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.04 percent to trade at $71.45 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose
0.08 percent to trade at $66.27 a barrel.
A Peek Into Global Markets
European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.28 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index rising 0.39 percent
and German DAX 30 index gaining 0.86 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.25 percent, while French CAC 40 Index
rose 0.44 percent.
In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.06 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.83 percent, China’s
Shanghai Composite Index declined 1.41 percent and India’s BSE Sensex rose 0.26 percent.
Broker Recommendation
Analysts at Morgan Stanley upgraded Twitter, Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) from Underweight to Equal-Weight.
Twitter shares rose 2.94 percent to $29.42 in pre-market trading.
Breaking news
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UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE: UNH) reported
better-than-expected earnings for its first quarter and raised its FY 2018 guidance.
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Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) reported
stronger-than-expected results for its first quarter and raised its FY 2018 sales forecast.
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Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) reported
better-than-expected sales for its first quarter Net streaming additions came in at 7.41 million, also beating estimates by
nearly 1 million. The company issued strong second-quarter guidance amid comments that it expects to be free cash flow negative
for several more years as the spending on original content continues.
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Bellicum Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ: BLCM)
reported a 7 million-share common stock offering.
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