A Peek Into The Market Before The Trading Starts

Pre-open movers US stock futures are mostly flat this morning, ahead of factory-orders data. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1 point to 12,777 and S&P 500 index futures rose 0.50 points to 1,358.10. Nasdaq 100 futures gained 3.75 points to 2,618.00.

A Peek Into Global Markets European markets were higher today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index rose 0.39%, London's FTSE 100 Index surged 0.28%, French CAC 40 Index gained 0.38% and German DAX 30 index rose 0.57%.

Asian markets ended mostly higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rising 0.70%, China's Shanghai Composite gaining 0.14% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dropping 0.15%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index surged 1.51% India's Sensex rose 0.15%.

Broker Recommendation Analysts at Citigroup upgraded Eastman Chemical Co (NYSE: EMN) from “neutral” to “buy.” The target price for Eastman Chemical has been raised from $46 to $57.

Eastman Chemical shares dropped 1.29% to close at $49.72 yesterday.

Breaking news

• LCA-Vision (NASDAQ: LCAV) today reported that 14,415 procedures were performed during the second quarter of 2012, a 2% increase from 14,081 procedures performed during the second quarter of 2011. To read the full news, click here.
• ICF International (NASDAQ: ICFI) has been awarded a re-compete contract by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to provide technical support for program initiatives under the Clean Air Act. To read the full news, click here.
• IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Sandvik today announced a five-year strategic agreement, where parts of the Sandvik IT infrastructure services will be outsourced to IBM. To read the full news, click here.
• Suntech Power Holdings Co Ltd (NYSE: STP) today announced an agreement for Suntech to supply 50 megawatts (MW) of solar panels through the end of 2012. To read the full news, click here.

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