A Peek Into The Market Before The Trading Starts

Pre-open movers US stock futures are higher this morning, as investors are awaiting nonfarm payrolls data. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 41 points to 13,316.00 and S&P 500 index futures rose 5.50 points to 1,436.50. Nasdaq 100 futures gained 9.75 points to 2,835.25.

A Peek Into Global Markets European markets were higher today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index rose 0.40%, French CAC 40 index gained 1.15%. London's FTSE 100 Index moved up 0.23% and German DAX 30 index rose 0.87%.

Asian markets ended higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average gaining 2.20%, China's Shanghai Composite rising 3.70% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving up 0.40%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained 3.09% and India's Sensex rose 1.95%.

Broker Recommendation Analysts at Citigroup downgraded Sunoco (NYSE: SUN) from “buy” to “neutral.” The target price for Sunoco has been lowered from $55 to $51.

Sunoco shares fell 0.10% to close at $47.67 yesterday.

Breaking news

• The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG) today announced that its infrastructure fund has agreed to acquire from Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE: GS) the North American power generation assets held by Cogentrix Energy LLC, which include five coal and solar power projects in Florida, Virginia, Colorado and California, as well as a development pipeline of gas and renewable power projects. To read the full news, click here.
• iGATE Computer Systems Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of iGATE Corporation (NASDAQ: IGTE), today publicly announced its intention to apply for the voluntarily delisting of its American Depositary Shares from the New York Stock Exchange on September 28, 2012. To read the full news, click here.
• Equinix (NASDAQ: EQIX) today announced that its EMEA International Business ExchangeTM (IBX®) data centers have reached the necessary standard required to receive FACT (Federation Against Copyright Theft) certification, the key data protection certification for the European film and broadcasting industry. To read the full news, click here.
• JinkoSolar (NYSE: JKS), a leading global solar power product manufacturer states the anti-dumping allegations initiated by some European companies are both unfair and unfounded, and do not reflect the reality of the highly-competitive global solar industry. To read the full news, click here.

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