Benzinga | Sep 15, 2020 06:03AM EDT

A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Gain; Fed Meeting In Focus

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade, after recording gains in the previous session. Investors are awaiting earnings from Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBRL), FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX) and Adobe Inc (NASDAQ:ADBE). The Federal Open Market Committee will begin its two-day policy meeting today. The Empire State manufacturing index for September and data on import and export prices for August will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Data on industrial production for August will be released at 9:15 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 162 points to 28,155 while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures traded rose 21.25 points to 3,403.75. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index climbed 105.25 points to 11,385.75.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 6,554,820 with around 194,530 deaths. India reported a total of at least 4,930,230 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 4,345,610 cases.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.8% to trade at $39.94 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.9% to trade at $37.59 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 higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 1.1% and STOXX Europe 600 Index gaining 0.4%. The French CAC 40 Index climbed 0.2%, while German DAX 30 rose 0.1% and London's FTSE 100 rose 0.6%. The UK reported an increase in unemployment rate during the three months to July, with the rate rising to 4.1% from 3.9%.

In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei fell 0.44%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.38% China's Shanghai Composite Index climbed 0.51% and India's BSE Sensex rose 0.7%. China reported further increase in home sales for August, with sales rising 4.1% year-over-year in January-August, versus a 0.4% rise in the January-July period. The country's retail sales also returned to growth, increasing 0.5% year-over-year in August.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at KeyBanc initiated coverage on Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) with a Sector Weight rating.

Twitter shares rose 0.5% to $38.97 in pre-market trading.

Breaking News

* Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN) reported upbeat earnings for its third quarter on Monday. Deliveries increased 2% to 13,842, while new orders rose 16% to 15,564 homes during the quarter.

* Sony Corporation (NYSE:SNE) has cut production estimates of its PlayStation 5 console for the current financial year by 4 million, down to 11 million, Bloomberg reported Monday.

* NextEra Energy Inc (NYSE:NEE) raised its guidance for 2021 and 2022 and extended its longer-term growth forecast to 2023. The company's board also approved a four-for-one stock split.

* Eastman Kodak Company (NYSE:KODK) is facing an inquiry from the United States International Development Finance Corp, the federal agency that planned to extend it a $765 million loan to manufacture drug ingredients, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.