Toplines Before US Market Open on Monday

U.S. stock index futures are starting the year with some more champagne.

At 8:00 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 162 points, or 0.45%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 26.75 points, or 0.56%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 113 points, or 0.69%.It follows a strong 2021 for each of the indices despite fears of inflation, tighter monetary policy, business disruptions and new COVID-19 variants. Investors seemed to focus on the bright spots of the macroeconomic picture instead, such as increased consumer spending, hiring ramp-ups and solid corporate earnings growth.

Stocks making the biggest moves premarket:

Tesla Motors – Tesla Motors surged 7.4% in the premarket following news thatit delivered 308,600 vehiclesduring the fourth quarter, well above the consensus estimate of 263,026. The quarter’s deliveries were 70% above year-ago levels and about 30% higher than the prior quarter.

McDonald's – McDonald’s was upgraded to “overweight” from “neutral” at Piper Sandler, which points to the restaurant chain’s ability to deliver on increasing preferences for drive-through and elevated demand for chicken and hamburger offerings. McDonald’s rose 1.1% in premarket trading.

NIO Inc. – NIO Inc. gained 2.2% in the premarket after the China-based electric vehicle maker reported December deliveries of 10,489 vehicles, up 50% from December 2020.

XPeng Inc. – XPeng Inc. – another China-based EV maker – rallied 2.5% in premarket trading as it, too, exceeded estimates by delivering 16,000 vehicles last month. That was up 181% from a year earlier.

Li Auto – Li Auto delivered 14,087 electric vehicles in December, a gain of 130% year-over-year, matching its fellow China-based EV makers. Li Auto shares added 2.8% in premarket action.

Office Depot – Office Depot jumped 3.1% in premarket trading after it announced the sale of its CompuCom unit in a deal valued at up to $305 million. The Office Depot and OfficeMax parent also added $200 million to its stock buyback program.

PayPal – PayPal gained 1.9% in the premarket, following a BMO upgrade to “outperform” from “market perform” based on the payment service’s current valuation.

Wells Fargo – The bank’s shares added 1.4% in premarket trading after Barclays upgraded Wells Fargo to “overweight” from “equal weight.” Barclays expects banks to outperform the market in 2022 as net interest margins improve off historic lows.

AMD – The chipmaker was one of several semiconductor stocks named as “top picks” at Goldman Sachs, which said AMD is among the companies that will see continued strength as sector outperformance becomes more muted in 2022. AMD rose 1.2% in the premarket. The other semiconductor “top picks” were Marvell Technology(MRVL), up 1.2% in premarket trading, and Micron Technology(MU), up 0.9%.

Callaway Golf – The golf equipment maker was named a “top pick” at Compass Point, which said Callaway is on an “operational roll” with growth expected across all its businesses in 2022. Callaway added 1.9% in the premarket.