Benzinga | Aug 12, 2020 06:00AM EDT

A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Gain Ahead Of Consumer Price Index

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade, after closing lower in the previous session. Investors are awaiting earnings results from Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT) and Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO). The Consumer Price Index for July is scheduled for release at 8:30 a.m. ET, while the U.S. Treasury budget report for July will be released at 2:00 p.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President Eric Rosengren is set to speak at 10:00 a.m. ET, while Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Robert Kaplan will speak at 11:00 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President Mary Daly is set to speak at 3:00 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 5,141,200 with around 164,530 deaths. Brazil confirmed over 3,057,470 cases, while India reported a total of at least 2,329,630 confirmed cases.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 249 points to 27,863 while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures traded rose 24.35 points to 3,354.25. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index surged 90.75 points to 10,969.25.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.8% to trade at $44.86 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.8% to trade at $41.96 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 mixed today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.1% and STOXX Europe 600 Index gaining 0.1%. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.4%, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.1% and German DAX 30 fell 0.2%.

In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei rose 0.41%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index climbed 1.42% China's Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.63% and India's BSE Sensex fell 0.2%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at RBC Capital upgraded J2 Global, Inc. (NASDAQ:JCOM) from Sector Perform to Outperform and raised the price target from $78 to $90.

J2 Global shares rose 14.8% to close at $69.03 on Tuesday.

Breaking News

* Moderna Inc (NASDAQ:MRNA) reported a Covid-19 vaccine agreement with the U.S. government. The U.S. government secured 100 million doses of Moderna's vaccine candidate, mRNA-1273, and will pay up to $1.525 billion.

* Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) disclosed a 5-for-1 stock split, effective August 31, 2020.

* Airbnb Inc. is planning to file for an IPO with the US Securities and Exchange Commission in August, and go public before the end of this year, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

* Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Inc. (NASDAQ:RRGB) reported weaker-than-expected results for its second quarter on Tuesday.