US stocks were set to open in positive territory Wednesday after China reported better-than-expected economic growth for Q1, helping boost market sentiment, while traders evaluated a fresh batch of corporate earnings.
Oil prices rose, with global benchmark Brent crude up 0.43% and US West Texas Intermediate crude up 0.59% on signs of strong demand from Chinese refineries.
Data released at 8:30 am showed a surprise narrowing of the US trade deficit to $49.4 billion for February from January's $51.1 billion and against estimates for a $53.6 billion deficit, according to data compiled by Econoday.
At 10 am, forecasters see March wholesale inventories inching higher for a 0.3% gain vs. a 1.4% revised gain for February.
In equities, shares of DPW (DPW) soared 36% after the company's 2018 net loss narrowed on higher revenue compared with 2017.
U.S. PRE-MARKET INDICATORS
-Dow Jones Industrial up 0.17%
-S&P 500 futures up 0.28%
-Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.52%
-Nasdaq 100 pre-market indicator up 0.60%
GLOBAL SENTIMENT
Nikkei up 0.25%
Hang Seng down 0.02%
Shanghai Composite up 0.29%
FTSE-100 down 0.09%
DAX-30 up 0.40%
PRE-MARKET SECTOR WATCH
(+/-) Large cap tech: mixed
(+/-) Chip stocks: mixed
(+) Software stocks: higher
(+/-) Hardware stocks: mixed
(+) Internet stocks: higher
(+) Oil stocks: higher
(+) Biotech stocks: unchanged to higher
(+/-) Drug stocks: mixed
(+/-) Financial stocks: mixed
(+) Retail stocks: unchanged to higher
(+) Industrial stocks: unchanged to higher
(+) Airlines: higher
(+) +unchanged to higher
UPSIDE MOVERS
(+) QCOM (+10.6%) Settles dispute with Apple
(+) SFS (+20.4%) Agrees to $6.50/share takeover offer
(+) NFLX (+3.5%) Tops Q1 estimates
(+) MBRX (+17.2%) Reports 'significant' discovery in lung cancer models
DOWNSIDE MOVERS
(-) BK (-4.6%) Misses Q1 expectations
(-) APHA (-1%) Prices $300 million notes offering
(-) S (-6%) WSJ reports merger with T-Mobile unlikely approved in current form
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
