Benzinga | Jan 7, 2022 01:01PM EST

A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Higher; All Eyes On Jobs Report

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade ahead of the key jobs data for December. Investors are awaiting earnings results from Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE:AYI) and The Greenbrier Companies, Inc. (NYSE:GBX).

US jobs report for December will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Analysts expect nonfarm payrolls rising 400,000 in December, up sharply from 210,000 in the previous month. The unemployment rate is expected to decline to 4.1% from 4.2%. Data on consumer credit for November will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET. San Francisco Federal Reserve President Mary Daly is set to speak at 10:00 a.m. ET, while Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic will speak at 12:15 p.m. ET. Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Thomas Barkin is set to speak at 12:30 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 52 points to 36,175.00 while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures gained 10 points to 4,697.50. Futures for the Nasdaq index surged 37.50 points to 15,796.50.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 59,564,110 with around 855,840 deaths. India reported a total of at least 35,226,380 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 22,395,320 cases.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.4% to trade at $82.31 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures gained 0.4% to trade at $79.77 a barrel. The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week is scheduled for release at 1:00 p.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were lower today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index fell 0.5%, while Spain's IBEX 35 Index fell 0.5% and London's FTSE 100 fell 0.2%. The French CAC 40 Index dropped 0.4%, while German DAX fell 0.6%. French current account deficit widened to EUR 3.6 billion in November from a revised EUR 2.5 billion gap in the prior month, while trade deficit increased to EUR 9.73 billion from EUR 7.70 billion. France's industrial production dropped 0.4% in November. German trade surplus shrank to (euro)12 billion in November from (euro)16.8 billion in the year-ago period, while current account surplus fell to EUR 18.9 billion from EUR 21.7 billion. Industrial production in Germany fell 0.2% from a month ago in November. The Halifax house price index in the UK surged 9.8% year-over-year in December.

Asian markets traded mixed today. Japan's Nikkei slipped 0.03%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index climbed 1.82%. China's Shanghai Composite fell 0.18%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 1.3% and India's BSE Sensex slipped 0.1%. Foreign exchange reserves in China rose to $3.25 trillion in December from $3.222 trillion in November. Household spending in Japan fell 1.3% in real terms in the month of November.

Broker Recommendation

B of A Securities upgraded Discovery, Inc. (NASDAQ:DISCA) from Neutral to Buy and raised the price target from $34 to $45.

Discovery shares rose 2.2% to $26.29 in pre-market trading.

Check out other major ratings here



Breaking News

* GameStop Corp. (NYSE:GME) is launching a division to develop an NFT marketplace and launch cryptocurrency partnerships, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

* James Hardie Industries plc (NYSE:JHX) named Harold Wiens as interim CEO.

* PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) reported better-than-expected results for its first quarter on Thursday.

* Glaukos Corporation (NYSE:GKOS) reported the FDA 510(k) clearance of iPRIME(tm) Viscodelivery System.



Check out other breaking news here