A Peek Into The Market Before The Trading Starts

Pre-open movers US stock futures are higher this morning, as investors are awaiting new home sales data. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 32 points to 13,813.00 and S&P 500 index futures rose 3.20 points to 1,495.00. Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 9.75 points to 2,727.75.

A Peek Into Global Markets European markets were higher today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index rose 0.15%, London's FTSE 100 Index gained 0.05%, German DAX 30 Index surged 1.10% and French CAC 40 Index rose 0.63%.

Asian markets ended mostly higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rising 2.88%, China's Shanghai Composite dropping 0.49% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index gaining 0.52%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.08% and India's Sensex climbed 0.90%.

Broker Recommendation Analysts at Citigroup downgraded Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE: GS) from “buy” to “neutral.” The target price for Goldman Sachs has been raised from $140 to $150.

Goldman Sachs shares dropped 0.66% to $144.00 in pre-market trading.

Breaking news

• Dr. Reddy's Laboratories (NYSE: RDY) announced today that it has launched Desloratadine ODT (2.5 mg & 5 mg), a bioequivalent generic version of Clarinex® Reditabs® (desloratadine) in the US market on January 24, 2013. To read the full news, click here.
• VimpelCom (NYSE: VIP) and the Wikimedia Foundation, operator of Wikipedia, the web-based, multilingual, free-content encyclopedia project, today announced a partnership to deliver free Wikipedia access to VimpelCom customers. To read the full news, click here.
• The Macerich Company (NYSE: MAC) today announced the closing of the acquisition of Green Acres Mall. To read the full news, click here.
• Covidien PLC (NYSE: COV) reported a 0.2% drop in its fiscal first-quarter profit and lifted raised its FY13 sales forecast. To read the full news, click here.

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