Benzinga | Jul 23, 2020 06:20AM EDT

A Peek Into The Markets: US Stock Futures Up Ahead Of Earnings, Jobless Claims Data

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade, after posting gains in the previous session. Investors are awaiting earnings results from AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T), Kimberly Clark Corp (NYSE:KMB), Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE:UNP) and American Airlines Group Inc (NASDAQ:AAL). Data on initial jobless claims for the latest week will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, while the index of leading economic indicators for June is scheduled for release at 10:00 a.m. ET. The Kansas City manufacturing index for July is scheduled for release at 11:00 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 3,970,900 with around 143,190 deaths. Brazil confirmed over 2,227,510 cases, while India reported a total of at least 1,238,790 confirmed cases.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 109 points to 26,993 while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures traded rose 12.4 points to 3,278.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index surged 90.25 points to 10,894.50.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 1% to trade at $44.72 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.9% to trade at $42.29 a barrel. The Energy Information Administration's weekly report on natural gas stocks in underground storage will be released at 10:30 a.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.2% and STOXX Europe 600 Index gaining 0.4%. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.6%, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.5% and German DAX 30 gained 0.6%.

In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei fell 0.58%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.82%, China's Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.24% and India's BSE Sensex rose 0.5%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at RBC Capital upgraded Synovus Financial Corp. (NYSE:SNV) from Underperform to Sector Perform and raised the price target from $16 to $19.

Synovus shares fell 1.2% to close at $20.40 on Wednesday.

Breaking News

* Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) reported better-than-expected results for its second quarter on Wednesday.

* Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) reported stronger-than-expected results for its fourth quarter.

* Midatech Pharma plc (NASDAQ:MTP) reported the termination of its formal sale process.

* Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) reported upbeat earnings for its second quarter.