Benzinga | Aug 3, 2020 07:40AM EDT

A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Gain Ahead of Manufacturing Data

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade, after closing higher on Friday. The Markit manufacturing PMI for July is scheduled for release at 9:45 a.m. ET, while data on construction spending for June and the ISM manufacturing composite index for July will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 4,667,950 with around 154,860 deaths. Brazil confirmed over 2,733,670 cases, while India reported a total of at least 1,803,690 confirmed cases.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 77 points to 26,396 while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures traded rose 16 points to 3,279.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index climbed 102 points to 10,992.50.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 0.4% to trade at $43.33 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures fell 0.5% to trade at $40.08 a barrel.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mostly higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.1% and STOXX Europe 600 Index climbing 1.2%. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.8%, while French CAC 40 Index rose 1.1% and German DAX 30 gained 2.1%.

In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei rose 2.24%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index declined 0.56% China's Shanghai Composite Index climbed 1.75% and India's BSE Sensex fell 1.77%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Raymond James downgraded Omega Healthcare Investors, Inc. (NYSE:OHI) from Strong Buy to Outperform and announced a $34 price target.

Omega Healthcare shares fell 1.1% to $32.01 in pre-market trading.

Breaking News

* Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) reported better-than-expected Q2 results. The company also announced a collaboration agreement with Amazon Web Services to provide a cloud-based issuer processing platform..

* DiamondPeak Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ:DPHC) announced it will acquire Lordstown, an electric pickup truck company for the commercial fleet market..

* Co-Diagnostics (NASDAQ:CODX) announced it has received FDA emergency use authorization for its rapid COVID-19 test..

* Bilibili (NASDAQ:BILI) announced a three-year strategic partnership with Riot Games for live broadcasting league of legend events in China..