A Peek Into The Market Before The Trading Starts

Pre-open movers US stock futures are lower this morning. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 97 points to 12,864.00 and S&P 500 index futures fell 12.20 points to 1,352.20. Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 23 points to 2,593.00. A Peek Into Global Markets European markets were lower today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index dropped 1.47%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved down 1.11%, French CAC 40 index fell 1.67% and German DAX 30 index dipped 1.56%. Asian markets ended lower, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average declining 0.63%, China's Shanghai Composite dropping 1.41% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving down 1.35%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dipped 2.16% and India's Sensex dropped 1.09%. Broker Recommendation Analysts at Robert W. Baird upgraded OmniVision Technologies Inc OVTI from “neutral” to “outperform.” The target price for OmniVision has been raised from $19 to $23. OmniVision shares gained 3.85% to $16.44 in pre-market trading. Breaking news

• Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co L.P. KKR and Chesapeake Energy Corporation CHK today announced the formation of a partnership to invest in mineral interests and overriding royalty interests in key oil and gas basins in the United States. To read the full news, click here.
• SM Energy Company SM today announces that it will extend its offer to exchange $350 million of its 6 1/2% Senior Notes due 2021, which have been registered under the Securities Act of 1933, in exchange for $350 million of its outstanding 6 1/2% Senior Notes due 2021, which were issued on November 8, 2011, in a private placement. To read the full news, click here.
• 1st Detect Corporation, a subsidiary of Astrotech Corporation ASTC, announced today that the European Patent Office has issued a key patent for the company's unique method to drive a mass spectrometer ion trap used for chemical analysis and detection. To read the full news, click here.
• Alcoa AA and Ma'aden today announced commencement of work to extend the product mix of their aluminum complex currently under construction at Ras Al Khair, Saudi Arabia. To read the full news, click here.