Benzinga | Nov 2, 2020 06:08AM EST

A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Gain; Presidential Election In Focus

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade following a sharp decline in the previous week due to resurgence of Covid-19 pandemic and the uncertainties around the presidential election. Investors are awaiting earnings from Estee Lauder Companies Inc (NYSE:EL), Charter Communications Inc (NASDAQ:CHTR), Paypal Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:PYPL), Clorox Co (NYSE:CLX) and US Foods Holding Corp (NYSE:USFD).

The manufacturing PMI for October is scheduled for release at 9:45 a.m. ET, while yhe ISM manufacturing composite index for October is scheduled for release at 10:00 a.m. ET. Data on construction spending for October will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 364 points to 26,758 while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures traded rose 40.30 points to 3,305. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 123.75 points to 11,170.00.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 9,208,870 with around 231,000 deaths. India reported a total of at least 8,229,310 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 5,545,700 cases.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 2.2% to trade at $37.09 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures fell 2.7% to trade at $34.81 a barrel. The total number of active U.S. oil rigs gained by 10 to 221 rigs this week, Baker Hughes Inc reported Friday.



A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today. The Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.8% and STOXX Europe 600 Index gained 1%. The French CAC 40 Index rose 0.3%, while German DAX 30 gained 1.6% and London's FTSE 100 rose 1.4%. Germany's manufacturing activity improved marginally to 58.2 in October. UK's Prime Minister Johnson announced a 1-month lockdown from November 5 as the country's Covid-19 cases exceeded the 1-million mark.



Asian markets traded higher today. Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 1.39%, China's Shanghai Composite rose 0.02%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 1.46% and India's BSE Sensex rose 0.4%. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 traded higher by 0.4%. Japan's manufacturing PMI improved to 48.7 in October, beating the consensus of 48. China's manufacturing activity accelerated at the fastest pace in nearly a decade, improving to 53.6 in October.



Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Piper Sandler downgraded Aon Plc (NYSE:AON) from Overweight to Neutral and lowered the price target from $228 to $187.

Aon shares fell 1.3% to close at $184.01 on Friday.



Breaking News

* Nielsen Holdings PLC (NYSE:NLSN) announced plans to sell its consumer goods data unit for $2.7 billion to Advent International.

* Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners, a private equity firm with a portfolio of infrastructure investments, on Sunday announced it is acquiring cable-TV company Astound Broadband in an $8.1 billion that includes the latter's debt.

* Nidec Corporation will build a $1.9 billion plant in Siberia to manufacture motors for electric vehicles in a bid to consolidate its presence in the European markets, Nikkei Asia reported Monday.

* JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM) now controls 71% of its Chinese securities joint venture after it bought a 20% stake from a local partner, Reuters reported.