Benzinga | Aug 6, 2020 06:07AM EDT

A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Edge Higher Ahead Of Jobless Claims Report

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded slightly higher in early pre-market trade, after recording gains in the earlier session. Investors are awaiting earnings results from Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH), Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY), ViacomCBS Inc. (NASDAQ:VIAC), T-Mobile US, Inc. (NASDAQ:TMUS), Uber Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:UBER) and Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI). The Challenger job-cut report for July is scheduled for release at 7:30 a.m. ET, while data on initial jobless claims for the latest week will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Robert Kaplan is set to speak 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 4,823,890 with around 158,250 deaths. Brazil confirmed over 2,859,070 cases, while India reported a total of at least 1,964,530 confirmed cases.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 42 points to 27,097 while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures traded rose 2.25 points to 3,318.25. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index rose 1.5 point to 11,093.25.

Oil prices traded lower as Brent crude futures fell 0.2% to trade at $45.09 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures fell 0.7% to trade at $41.88 a barrel. The Energy Information Administration's weekly report on natural gas stocks in underground storage is scheduled for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mostly lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.6% and STOXX Europe 600 Index declining 0.4%. The UK's FTSE index was trading lower by 1.3%, while French CAC 40 Index fell 0.5% and German DAX 30 gained 0.1%.

In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei fell 0.43%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index declined 0.69% China's Shanghai Composite Index climbed 0.26% and India's BSE Sensex rose 0.6%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at KeyBanc upgraded Synaptics Incorporated (NASDAQ:SYNA) from Sector Weight to Overweight and announced a $100 price target.

Synaptics shares rose 0.4% to close at $82.70 on Wednesday.

Breaking News

* Western Digital Corp (NASDAQ:WDC) reported upbeat earnings for its fiscal fourth quarter, while sales exceeded estimates. The company also issued downbeat EPS and sales guidance for the current quarter.

* Uber Technologies Inc. (NYSE:UBER) announced plans to purchase Autocab, a United Kingdom technology firm.

* Roku Inc (NASDAQ:ROKU) posted stronger-than-expected results for its second quarter. The company added 3.2 million incremental active accounts in Q2.

* Novavax, Inc (NASDAQ:NVAX) said Wednesday it had entered into an agreement with the Serum Institute of India Private Limited for development, distribution, and commercialization of its COVID-19 vaccine in several countries..