A Peek Into The Market Before The Trading Starts - Centene (NYSE:CNC), Acacia Research (NASDAQ:ACTG)

Pre-open movers

US stock futures are lower this morning. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 61 points to 12,345.00 and S&P 500 index futures fell 8 points to 1,302.00. Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 13.25 points to 2,517.25.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were lower today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index declined 0.92%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved down 0.95%, French CAC 40 index fell `.09% and German DAX 30 index dropped 0.85%. Asian markets ended mostly lower, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average dropping 2.09%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving down 1.09% and China's Shanghai Composite dropping 0.51%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.94% and India's Sensex surged 0.42%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Citigroup downgraded Lennar Corp

LEN

from “neutral” to “sell.” The target price for Lennar has been lowered from $26 to $22. Lennar shares dropped 0.95% to close at $26.04 yesterday.

Breaking news

Acacia Research Corporation ACTG announced today that its Document Generation Corporation subsidiary has entered into an agreement with eClinical Works, LLC, that resolves the matter pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois. To read the full news, click here.
Walker & Dunlop, Inc. WD announced today that it entered into a definitive agreement to acquire CWCapital LLC, an operating subsidiary of CW Financial Services LLC, which is wholly owned by funds managed by affiliates of Fortress Investment Group LLC FIG. To read the full news, click here.
Coronado Biosciences Inc CNDO today announced the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued a Notice of Allowance for the foundation U.S. patent application for CNDO-109, licensed by Coronado Biosciences from the University College London Business PLC, for its Natural Killer (NK) cell therapy program. To read the full news, click here.
Centene Corporation CNC has been notified by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) that Buckeye Community Health Plan (Buckeye), Centene's Ohio subsidiary, has been selected as one of five health plans to be awarded a contract to serve Medicaid members in Ohio, effective January 2013. To read the full news, click here.

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