Benzinga | Jul 29, 2020 06:12AM EDT

A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Edge Higher Ahead Of Earnings, Fed Decision

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded slightly higher in early pre-market trade, after recording a rise in the earlier session. Investors are awaiting earnings results from Boeing Co (NYSE:BA), General Motors Company (NYSE:GM), General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) and Paypal Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:PYPL) and QUALCOMM, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM). An advance report on U.S. international trade in goods and wholesale inventories for June will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The pending home sales index for June is scheduled for release at 10:00 a.m. ET. The Federal Reserve is expected to announce its policy decision at 2:00 p.m. ET, while the Fed Chairman Jerome Powell will hold a press conference at 2:30 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 4,352,080 with around 149,250 deaths. Brazil confirmed over 2,483,190 cases, while India reported a total of at least 1,531,660 confirmed cases.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 13 points to 26,310 while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures traded rose 6 points to 3,219.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index climbed 43.5 points to 10,583.50.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.9% to trade at $44.00 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.8% to trade at $41.37 a barrel. The Energy Information Administration's weekly report on petroleum inventories in the U.S. is scheduled to release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mostly higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.4% and STOXX Europe 600 Index climbing 0.2%. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.4%, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.9% and German DAX 30 declined 0.1%.

In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei fell 1.15%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 0.45%, China's Shanghai Composite Index gained 2.06% and India's BSE Sensex fell 0.9%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at KeyBanc upgraded Quest Diagnostics Inc (NYSE:DGX) from Sector Weight to Overweight and announced a $144 price target.

Quest Diagnostics shares fell 0.5% to close at $123.46 on Tuesday.

Breaking News

* Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) reported stronger-than-expected results for its third quarter and raised its earnings guidance for FY20.

* Radware Ltd. (NASDAQ:RDWR) reported upbeat results for its second quarter.

* Seagate Technology PLC (NASDAQ:STX) reported weaker-than-expected results for its fourth quarter on Tuesday.

* Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) reported upbeat results for its second quarter and issued strong sales guidance for the third quarter.