A Peek Into The Market Before The Trading Starts

Pre-open movers US stock futures jumped in early pre-market trade, after strong Chinese and European PMI data. The US ISM manufacturing data for July will also be released today. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 102 points to 15,535.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 11.50 points to 1,692.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 19.50 points to 3,102.50. A Peek Into Global Markets European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.52%, London's FTSE 100 index gaining 0.22% and STOXX Europe 600 Index surging 0.71%. German DAX 30 index gained 1.17% and French CAC 40 Index rose 0.48%. The euro-zone manufacturing PMI surged to 50.3 in July, versus 48.8 in June. Spanish manufacturing PMI fell to 49.8 in July, versus 50.0 in June, while the UK manufacturing PMI climbed to 54.6 in July. The Bank of England kept its key lending rate unchanged at 0.5%. Asian markets ended mostly higher, after upbeat Chinese data. China's official manufacturing PMI surged to 50.3 in July, versus 50.1 in the previous month. China's Shanghai Composite surged 1.77%, while Japan's Nikkei Stock Average jumped 2.47%. Australia's ASX/S&P500 gained 0.23%, India's Sensex tumbled 0.15% and Hong Kong's Heng Seng Index rose 0.94%. Broker Recommendation Analysts at Citigroup downgraded J.C. Penney Company JCP from “neutral” to “sell.” The target price for J.C. Penney has been lowered from $20 to $11. J.C. Penney shares surged 8.90% to $15.90 in pre-market trading. Breaking news

• Time Warner Cable TWC reported a 6.4% rise in its second-quarter net profit. Time Warner's quarterly profit surged to $481 million, or $1.64 per share, from $452 million, or $1.43 per share, in the year-earlier period. To read the full news, click here.
• Nu Skin Enterprises NUS today announced that its board of directors has authorized a $400 million extension to the company's existing stock repurchase authorization. To read the full news, click here.
• Cigna CI reported a better-than-expected second-quarter profit. Cigna's quarterly net income surged to $505 million, or $1.76 per share, versus $380 million, or $1.31 per share, in the year-ago period. To read the full news, click here.
• Becton Dickinson & Co BDX reported upbeat fiscal third-quarter earnings. Becton Dickinson's quarterly profit fell to $301.6 million, or $1.52 per share, from $326.9 million, or $1.59 per share, in the year-ago period. Becton Dickinson's adjusted earnings from continuing operations came in at $1.54 per share. To read the full news, click here.