Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade ahead of policy decision from the Federal Reserve. The Nasdaq index dropped by more than 300 points on Tuesday. Investors are awaiting earnings results from AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T), The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA), Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC), Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) and Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT).

Data on wholesale inventories for December and U.S. international trade in goods for December will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Data on new home sales for December will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. The Federal Reserve will announce its policy decision at 2:00 p.m. ET, while Fed Chairman Jerome Powell will hold a press conference at 2:30 p.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 334 points to 34,519.00 while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 57.25 points to 4,406.25. Futures for the Nasdaq index climbed 277.25 points to 14,418.00.

The U.S. has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world, with total infections in the country exceeding 73,449,180 with around 894,880 deaths. India reported a total of at least 40,085,110 confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed over 24,334,070 cases.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures rose 0.4% to trade at $87.51 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.3% to trade at $85.82 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.

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A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index gained 1.6%, while Spain’s IBEX 35 Index rose 2.1% and London’s FTSE 100 gained 1.6%. The French CAC 40 Index climbed 1.8%, while German DAX gained 1.9%. The consumer confidence index in France declined slightly by 1 point to a reading of 99 in January.

Asian markets traded mostly higher today. Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.44%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.19%, while China’s Shanghai Composite gained 0.66%. The index of coincident economic indicators in Japan slipped to 92.8 in November from a flash reading of 93.6, while index of leading economic indicators rose to 103.2 in November from a preliminary level of 103.0.

Broker Recommendation

Keybanc initiated coverage on KLA Corporation (NASDAQ: KLAC) with an Overweight rating and announced a price target of $480.

KLA shares rose 1.8% to $376.70 in pre-market trading.

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Breaking News

• Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) reported better-than-expected results for its second quarter and issued strong forecast. The company said it sees Q3 More Personal Computing revenue of $14.15 billion to $14.45 billion.
• Ford Motor Co (NYSE: F) has started production of its electric E-Transit cargo vans in Kansas City, Missouri, TechCrunch reported on Tuesday, citing a company executive.
• Texas Instruments Incorporated (NASDAQ: TXN) reported better-than-expected results for its fourth quarter and issued strong guidance for the current quarter.
• U.S. listed Chinese electric vehicle maker Nio Inc (NYSE: NIO) is exploring a secondary listing in Singapore as early as this year, cnEVpost reported.

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