Benzinga | Nov 18, 2020 06:08AM EST

A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Up; Target, NVIDIA Earnings In Focus

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade, after recording losses in the previous session due to rise in Covid-19 cases. Investors are awaiting earnings from Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) and NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA).

Data on housing starts and permits for October will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans is set to speak at 10:00 a.m. ET, while Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams will speak at 12:15 p.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard is set to speak at 1:20 p.m. ET, while Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Robert Kaplan will speak at 6:00 p.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic is set to speak at 7:00 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 88 points to 29,808.00 while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures traded rose 7.75 points to 3,614.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 34.50 points to 12,009.50.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 11,359,800 with around 248,680 deaths. India reported a total of at least 8,912,900 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 5,911,750 cases.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.8% to trade at $44.11 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.5% to trade at $41.65 a barrel. The American Petroleum Institute reported a rise of 4.2 million barrels in U.S. crude supplies for the week ended November 13. The Energy Information Administration's weekly report on petroleum inventories report is scheduled for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mixed today. The Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.1% and STOXX Europe 600 Index gained 0.1%. The French CAC 40 Index fell 0.1%, while German DAX 30 gained 0.1% and London's FTSE 100 fell 0.3%. Annual inflation rate in the UK rose to 0.7% in October from 0.5% in September, while producer prices fell 1.4% year-over-year in October.

Asian markets traded mostly higher today. Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 1.1%, China's Shanghai Composite rose 0.22%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 0.49% and India's BSE Sensex rose 0.4%. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 traded higher by 0.5%. Japan posted a trade surplus of JPY 872.9 billion in October versus a JPY 11.2 billion surplus in the year-ago period.



Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Baird upgraded The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) from Neutral to Outperform and announced a $306 price target.

Boeing shares rose 3.6% to $217.55 in pre-market trading.



Breaking News

* Nio Inc -- ADR (NYSE:NIO) reported better-than-expected results for its third quarter and issued strong sales outlook for the current quarter.

* The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for the first COVID-19 at-home diagnostic self-test that provides rapid results.

* La-Z-Boy Incorporated (NYSE:LZB) reported stronger-than-expected results for its second quarter on Tuesday.

* Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) reported downbeat earnings for its third quarter, while sales topped estimates.