A Peek Into The Market Before The Trading Starts

Pre-open movers US stock futures are lower this morning, as investors are awaiting economic data. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 20 points to 13,413.00 and S&P 500 index futures fell 3.60 points to 1,460.70. Nasdaq 100 futures declined 5 points to 2,723.75.

A Peek Into Global Markets European markets were mostly lower today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index fell 0.03%, London's FTSE 100 Index gained 0.05%, German DAX 30 Index dropped 0.21% and French CAC 40 Index fell 0.23%.

Asian markets ended mostly higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rising 0.72%, China's Shanghai Composite jumping 0.60% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index dropping 0.06%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.14% and India's Sensex surged 0.40%.

Broker Recommendation Analysts at Credit Suisse upgraded Boston Scientific (NYSE: BSX) from “neutral” to “outperform.” The target price for Boston Scientific has been raised from $6 to $7.50.

Boston Scientific shares dropped 0.63% to close at $6.32 yesterday.

Breaking news

• MasterCard (NYSE: MA) and Equity Bank of Kenya today announced an agreement at a signing ceremony in Nairobi to issue five-million MasterCard-branded debit and prepaid cards, over the next 18 months. To read the full news, click here.
• Lennar (NYSE: LEN) reported upbeat fourth-quarter profit. To read the full news, click here.
• As organizations of all types look to accelerate the adoption of video-based communications and video-enabled business processes, AT&T (NYSE: T) and Polycom (NASDAQ: PLCM) announced today a strategic agreement to personalize, mobilize and virtualize video meetings. To read the full news, click here.
• Pluristem Therapeutics (NASDAQ: PSTI) announced today that the Paul-Ehrlich-Institute (PEI), the medical regulatory body for biological medicinal products for the Federal Republic of Germany, has approved the company's request to initiate a Phase II study using PLX-PAD cells in patients suffering from Intermittent Claudication (IC). To read the full news, click here.

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