Benzinga | Mar 30, 2021 06:17AM EDT

A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Mixed Ahead Of Earnings, House Price Data

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded mixed in early pre-market trade as the Wall Street closed mixed in the previous session with the Dow Jones adding around 100 points. Investors are awaiting earnings results from McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC), FactSet Research Systems Inc. (NYSE:FDS), PVH Corp (NYSE:PVH) and BlackBerry Limited (NYSE:BB)

The S&P Corelogic Case-Shiller home price index and the FHFA house price index for January will be released at 9:00 a.m. ET. The Conference Board's consumer confidence index for March is scheduled for release at 10:00 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Governor Randal Quarles is set to speak at 9:00 a.m. ET, while Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic will speak at 12:00 p.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams is set to speak at 2:00 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 56 points to 33,088.00 while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures fell 2.50 points at 3,956.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index fell 68.50 points to 12,876.00.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 30,331,790 with around 550,030 deaths. Brazil confirmed over 12,573,610 cases, while India reported a total of at least 12,095,850 confirmed cases.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 0.1% to trade at $64.87 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures fell 0.2% to trade at $61.42 a barrel. The API's report on crude inventories will be released later during the day.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today. The Spanish Ibex Index rose 0.8% and STOXX Europe 600 Index gained 0.5%. The French CAC 40 Index rose 0.8%, German DAX 30 gained 0.6% while London's FTSE 100 rose 0.7%. Import prices in Germany rose 1.4% year-over-year in February following a 1.2% drop in January. Retail sales in Spain dropped 5.9% year-over-year in February. French consumer confidence index rose to 94 in March from 91 in February.

Asian markets traded mostly higher today. Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.16%, China's Shanghai Composite gained 0.62% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.84%. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.9%, while India's BSE Sensex rose 2.1%. Retail sales in Japan fell 1.5% year-over-year in February following a 2.4% decline a month earlier, while unemployment rate stood at 2.9% for February.

Broker Recommendation

Credit Suisse initiated coverage on Molina Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:MOH) with an Outperform rating and announced a price target of $260.

Molina Healthcare shares fell 0.4% to close at $233.28 on Monday.

Check out other major ratings here



Breaking News

* Nio Inc (NYSE:NIO) has agreed to partner with German retail giant Metro AG to construct electric vehicle charging stations and battery swap stations, cnEVpost reported.

* Biocept Inc (NASDAQ:BIOC) reported Q4 net income of $1.9 million, or $0.14 per share, versus a year-ago net loss of $5.7 million, or $1.97 per share. Its revenue surged to $18.5 million from $1.8 million.

* A lawsuit against Nokia Oyj (NYSE:NOK) alleging that the telecom company defrauded shareholders was dismissed in New York on Monday, Reuters reported.

* Trxade Group Inc (NASDAQ:MEDS) posted a net loss of $0.29 per share in the fourth quarter versus a year-ago net loss of $0.04 per shares. Its revenue climbed 17.1% to $2 million.

Check out other breaking news here