US Stock Futures Edge Lower Ahead Of FOMC Minutes, Economic Data - C.H. Robinson Worldwide (NASDAQ:CHRW)

Pre-open movers

US stock futures declined in early pre-market trade, ahead of economic data. The consumer price index and retail sales data will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Data on business inventories and existing home sales will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. The Federal Open Market Committee will release minutes of its latest meeting at 2:00 p.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 16 points to 15,918.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures fell 2.40 points to 1,782.80. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index dropped 0.50 points to 3,375.00.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index tumbling 0.87%, London's FTSE 100 index dropping 0.48% and STOXX Europe 600 Index declining 0.33%. German DAX 30 index fell 0.21% and French CAC 40 Index tumbled 0.37%. Asian markets ended mixed today. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average dropped 0.33%, China's Shanghai Composite surged 0.62%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.18% and India's BSE Sensex dropped 1.22%. Japanese exports climbed 18.6% y/y to Y6.105 trillion in October. The country's trade deficit widened to Y1.091 trillion, versus a Y556.2 billion deficit in the year-ago month.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Deutsche Bank downgraded C.H. Robinson Worldwide

CHRW

from “buy” to “hold.” The target price for C.H. Robinson has been lowered from $65 to $60. C.H. Robinson's shares closed at $58.95 yesterday.

Breaking news

SAP AG SAP and China Telecom CHA today announced a strategic partnership in cloud computing through which the SAP® Cloud portfolio will be offered to small and large organizations in China by China Datacom Corporation Limited (CDC), a joint venture between SAP and China Communication Services (CCS), a subsidiary of China Telecom Group. CCS will be the first local customer to adopt the industry-leading offerings. To read the full news, click here.
ImmunoGen IMGN today announced that the European Commission has granted marketing approval for Kadcyla (trastuzumab emtansine; ado-trastuzumab emtansine in the US) in the European Union (EU). To read the full news, click here.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals VRTX today announced that it has sold its product royalty rights relating to INCIVO® (telaprevir) to Janssen Pharmaceutica N.V. Under the agreement, Janssen will make a $152 million cash payment to Vertex in the fourth quarter of 2013 and will cease paying royalties to Vertex on INCIVO sales beginning in 2014. To read the full news, click here.
Lowe's Companies LOW reported a 26% rise in its third-quarter net income and raised its outlook for fiscal 2013. To read the full news, click here.

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