A Peek Into The Markets: U.S. Stock Futures Flat; Goldman Sachs Earnings In Focus

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded mostly flat in early pre-market trade, ahead of earnings from Goldman Sachs Group Inc GS 1.22%. Data on import and export prices for September will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, while data on industrial production for September will be released at 9:15 a.m. ET. The housing market index for October is schedule for release at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 4 points to 22,902.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 0.50 points to 2,555.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index slipped 1.75 points to 6,118.25.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.42 percent to trade at $58.06 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures gained 0.42 percent to trade at $52.09 a barrel.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mostly higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.20 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index declining 0.05 percent and German DAX 30 index gaining 0.04 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.17 percent, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.01 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.38 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.02 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index declined 0.19 percent and India’s BSE Sensex slipped 0.08 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Biogen Inc BIIB 2.91% from Hold to Buy.

Biogen shares rose 1.96 percent to $342.27 in pre-market trading.

Breaking news

• Johnson & Johnson JNJ 2.37% reported stronger-than-expected earnings for its third quarter and raised its FY 2017 forecast.
• Morgan Stanley MS 1.41% posted better-than-expected profit for its third quarter.
• Harley-Davidson Inc HOG 3.67% reported upbeat results for its third quarter on Tuesday.
• Netflix, Inc. NFLX 0.86% reported upbeat sales for its third quarter. Domestic subscribers grew by 850,000 in the quarter (estimates called for about 770,000) and Netflix saw 4.45 million new international subscribers.