A Peek Into The Market Before The Trading Starts - Alcoa (NYSE:AA)

Pre-open movers

US stock futures are higher this morning, as investors are awaiting earnings from Alcoa

. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 67 points to 15,143.00 and S&P 500 index futures rose 8.70 points to 1,636.00. Nasdaq 100 futures gained 17.75 points to 2,974.25.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index rose 1.23%, London's FTSE 100 index gained 0.25%, French CAC 40 Index climbed 1.75% and German DAX 30 index rose 2.33%. Asian markets ended lower, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average dropping 1.40%, China's Shanghai Composite falling 2.44% and Australia's ASX/S&P500 dropping 0.60%. Hong Kong's Heng Seng Index declined 1.31% and India's Sensex tumbled 0.88%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Goldman Sachs downgraded FMC

FMC

from “neutral” to “sell.” The target price for FMC has been lowered from $63 to $58. FMC's shares closed at $62.32 on Friday.

Breaking news

McAfee today reached a major milestone in its acquisition of Stonesoft Oyj by completing the tender offer that was announced on May 6. To read the full news, click here.
ING ING announced today that it has agreed to sell its 50% stake in its Chinese insurance joint venture ING-BOB Life Insurance Company to BNP Paribas Cardif, the insurance arm of BNP Paribas BNPQY. To read the full news, click here.
Novartis NVS today announced that it has entered into a development and licensing agreement with Biological E Limited (BioE), a biopharmaceutical company based in India, for two vaccines to protect against typhoid and paratyphoid fevers. To read the full news, click here.
Astex Pharmaceuticals ASTX announced today its plan to submit an Investigational New Drug or IND application to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for ASTX727, a novel oral hypomethylating agent (HMA) in the fourth quarter of this year. To read the full news, click here.

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