US Stock Futures Flat Ahead Of Economic Data

Pre-open movers US stock futures were mostly flat in early pre-market trade, ahead of consumer sentiment and retail sales data. The producer price index for August and retail sales data for August will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The Reuters/University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index for September will be released at 9:55 a.m. ET, while business inventories data for July will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 3 points to 15,249.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures fell 1.30 points to 1,677.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index declined 2.50 points to 3,176.00. A Peek Into Global Markets European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.17%, London's FTSE 100 index dropping 0.28% and STOXX Europe 600 Index declining 0.15%. German DAX 30 index fell 0.11% and French CAC 40 Index declined 0.18%. Asian markets ended mostly lower today. China's Shanghai Composite fell 0.86%, while Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.12%. Australia's ASX/S&P500 dropped 0.45% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index declined 0.17% and India's Sensex dropped 0.25%. Broker Recommendation Analysts at JP Morgan downgraded Teva Pharmaceutical Industries TEVA from “overweight” to “neutral.” The target price for Teva has been lowered from $45 to $43. Teva's shares closed at $38.88 yesterday. Breaking news

• Chemical Financial CHFC announced today the pricing of an underwritten public offering of 1,925,000 shares of its common stock at a price of $26.00 per share to the public.To read the full news, click here.
• LDK Solar Co LDK announced its engagement of Jefferies LLC as financial advisor for strategic advice in connection with LDK Solar's offshore debt obligations, including the US$-Settled 10% Senior Notes due 2014. To read the full news, click here.
• OCI Resources LP OCIR announced today the pricing of its initial public offering of 5,000,000 common units representing limited partner interests in the Partnership at a public offering price of $19.00 per common unit. To read the full news, click here.
• Alexion Pharmaceuticals ALXN, today announced that the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) in Japan has approved the use of Soliris® (eculizumab) for the treatment of pediatric and adult patients with atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS), a life-threatening ultra-rare disorder. To read the full news, click here.