Benzinga | Aug 5, 2020 06:03AM EDT

A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Climb Ahead Of Earnings, Economic Data

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 results from CVS Health Corp (NYSE:CVS), Western Digital Corp (NASDAQ:WDC), AmerisourceBergen Corp. (NYSE:ABC), Humana Inc (NYSE:HUM) and Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA). The national employment report from Automated Data Processing for July is scheduled for release at 8:15 a.m. ET, while international trade report for June will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. US Services Purchasing Managers' Index for July is scheduled for release at 9:45 a.m. ET, while the ISM's non-manufacturing index for July will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester is set to speak at 5:00 p.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 4,771,510 with around 156,830 deaths. Brazil confirmed over 2,801,920 cases, while India reported a total of at least 1,908,250 confirmed cases.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 175 points to 26,892 while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures traded rose 17.10 points to 3,317.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index surged 40.5 points to 11,126.50.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 1.3% to trade at $45.02 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 1.4% to trade at $42.28 a barrel. The Energy Information Administration's weekly report on petroleum inventories in the U.S. will be released at 10:30 a.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.8% and STOXX Europe 600 Index gaining 0.7%. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.9%, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.8% and German DAX 30 gained 0.9%.

In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei fell 0.26%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index climbed 0.62% China's Shanghai Composite Index climbed 0.17% and India's BSE Sensex rose 0.1%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at BTIG upgraded Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NYSE:PANW) from Neutral to Buy and announced a $313 price target.

Palo Alto shares rose 0.2% to close at $254.91 on Tuesday.

Breaking News

* Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS) reported better-than-expected earnings for its latest quarter, while revenue missed views. The company reported 57.5 million Disney+ paid subscribers as of June 27. The company also announced plans to make "Mulan" available on its streaming video-on-demand service Disney+ on September 4 at a price of$29.99.

* Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATVI) reported upbeat results for its second quarter and raised its revenue forecast for the year.

* Square Inc (NYSE:SQ) reported upbeat earnings for its second quarter.

* Monster Beverage Corp (NASDAQ:MNST) reported stronger-than-expected earnings for its second quarter on Tuesday.