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A Peek Into The Markets: U.S. Stock Futures Up Ahead Of Morgan Stanley Earnings, Beige Book Report

ISRG, TXT | April 18, 2018

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade, ahead of earnings from Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS). New York Federal Reserve Bank President William Dudley is set to speak in New York at 8:30 a.m. ET, while New York Federal Reserve Bank President William Dudley will speak in New York at 3:15 p.m. ET. Federal Reserve Vice Chairman for Supervision Governor Randal Quarles is set to speak in Washington at 4:15 p.m. ET. The Federal Reserve will release its latest Beige Book report at 2:00 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 40 points to 24,749.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 5.50 points to 2,712.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 13.75 points to 6,842.50.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 1.01 percent to trade at $72.30 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 1.16 percent to trade at $67.29 a barrel. The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories in the U.S. is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mostly higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.19 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index falling 0.03 percent and German DAX 30 index dropping 0.09 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.78 percent, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.26 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 1.42 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.74 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index climbed 0.80 percent and India’s BSE Sensex fell 0.18 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Morgan Stanley upgraded eBay Inc. from Underweight to Overweight.

eBay shares rose 4.19 percent to $42.31 in pre-market trading.

Breaking news

Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ: ISRG) reported stronger-than-expected results for its first quarter.
Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) reported stronger-than-expected earnings for its first quarter.
U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) reported better-than-expected earnings for its first quarter.
IBM (NYSE: IBM) shares fell over 5 percent in pre-market trading despite reporting a first quarter earnings beat. The company reaffirmed its FY18 outlook of EPS of at least $13.80 and free cash flow of $12 billion.