A Peek Into The Market Before The Trading Starts

Pre-open movers US stock futures are lower this morning, as investors are awaiting nonfarm payrolls data. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 108 points to 12,275.00 and S&P 500 index futures fell 15.70 points to 1,293.50. Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 27 points to 2,497.00. A Peek Into Global Markets European markets were lower today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index dropped 1.42%, French CAC 40 index fell 1.51%. London's FTSE 100 Index moved down 0.88% and German DAX 30 index declined 2.61%. Asian markets ended mostly lower, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average falling 1.20%, China's Shanghai Composite rising 0.05% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving down 0.41%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 0.38% and India's Sensex declined 1.71%. Broker Recommendation Analysts at Jefferies downgraded Vera Bradley Inc VRA from “buy” to “hold.” The target price for Vera Bradley has been lowered from $45 to $25. Vera Bradley shares gained 8.92% to $23.82 in after-hours trading. Breaking news

• International Paper IP today announced that it has reached two agreements to sell three U.S containerboard mills in order to satisfy the company's obligations in its February 2012 settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice. To read the full news, click here.
• IntercontinentalExchange ICE today announced it will launch a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) cleared swap contract based on the Platts* daily assessment for the Japan/Korea Marker (JKM). To read the full news, click here.
• ZAGG Inc ZAGG announced that ZAGG Intellectual Property Holding Co., Inc. has been awarded patent number D659,139 by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, issued on May 8, 2012. To read the full news, click here.
• Littelfuse Inc LFUS today announced it has acquired ACCEL AB, based in Vänersborg, Sweden, in a cash transaction. To read the full news, click here.