A Peek Into The Market Before The Trading Starts

Pre-open movers

US stock futures are higher this morning, after the release of the minutes from the most recent FOMC meeting on Wednesday. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 121 points to 15,364.00 and S&P 500 index futures rose 15.40 points to 1,664.00. Nasdaq 100 futures gained 25.50 points to 3,021.75.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index surged 0.44%, London's FTSE 100 index gained 0.60%, French CAC 40 Index climbed 0.77% and German DAX 30 index rose 1.07%. Asian markets ended higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average gaining 0.39%, China's Shanghai Composite surging 3.23% and Australia's ASX/S&P500 rising 1.26%. Hong Kong's Heng Seng Index gained 2.55% and India's Sensex rose 1.98%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Deutsche Bank upgraded Sprint Nextel

from “hold” to “buy.” The target price for Sprint Nextel has been raised from $4.25 to $8. Sprint Nextel's shares closed at $7.18 yesterday.

Breaking news

Trimble TRMB introduced today the new Trimble® MX2 mobile spatial imaging data capture system. To read the full news, click here.
Magnum Hunter Resources MHR announced today that the Company has appointed Joseph C. Daches as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) effective July 22, 2013. To read the full news, click here.
Questcor Pharmaceuticals QCOR today announced its intent to initiate a pilot commercialization effort for H.P. Acthar® Gel (repository corticotropin injection) for the treatment of respiratory manifestations of symptomatic sarcoidosis, a potentially serious, difficult-to-treat disorder already included on the FDA-approved package insert for Acthar. To read the full news, click here.
Cubic Defense Systems, the defense systems division of Cubic CUB, announced Wednesday it received several contracts totaling more than $125 million for combat training support requirements in the Asia Pacific region. To read the full news, click here.

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