A Peek Into The Market Before The Trading Starts

Pre-open movers US stock futures are higher this morning. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 80 points to 15,218.00 and S&P 500 index futures rose 9.60 points to 1,636.70. Nasdaq 100 futures gained 14 points to 2,977.50. A Peek Into Global Markets European markets were higher today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index gained 0.55%, London's FTSE 100 index gained 0.21%, French CAC 40 Index rose 0.43% and German DAX 30 index rose 0.08%. Asian markets ended lower, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average falling 0.21% and Australia's ASX/S&P500 dropping 0.69%. India's Sensex tumbled 0.53%. Broker Recommendation Analysts at Citigroup upgraded Applied Materials AMAT from “neutral” to “buy.” The target price for Applied Materials has been raised from $14 to $20. Applied Materials shares closed at $15.19 yesterday. Breaking news

• Bristol-Myers Squibb Company BMY today announced the results of year two data from AMPLE (Abatacept Versus Adalimumab Comparison in Biologic-Naïve rheumatoid arthritis (RA) Subjects With Background Methotrexate), a first-of-its-kind trial of 646 patients comparing the subcutaneous (SC) formulation of ORENCIA® (abatacept) vs. Humira® (adalimumab), each on a background of MTX, in biologic naïve patients with moderate to severe RA. To read the full news, click here.
• Gigamon GIMO announced today the pricing of its initial public offering of 6,750,000 shares of its common stock at a price to the public of $19.00 per share. To read the full news, click here.
• Portland General Electric Company POR announced today the pricing of a public offering of 11.1 million shares of its common stock at $29.50 per share. To read the full news, click here.
• Cyber-security expert Avira Technologies AVG announced today that Travis Witteveen has been promoted to CEO of the company, effective July 1, 2013. To read the full news, click here.