US Stock Futures Edge Higher; JPMorgan Earnings In Focus - Danaher (NYSE:DHR)

Pre-open movers

US stock futures gained in early pre-market trade, ahead of earnings from JPMorgan Chase & Co

JPM

and Wells Fargo & Company

WFC

. The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index for December will be released at 7:30 a.m. ET. Data on retail sales and import price for December will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, while business inventories data for November will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 18 points to 16,232.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures gained 2.80 points to 1,817.90. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index rose 3.50 points to 3,513.00.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.31%, London's FTSE 100 index dropping 0.22% and STOXX Europe 600 Index dipping 0.38%. German DAX 30 index declined 0.61% and French CAC 40 Index tumbled 0.46%. Asian markets ended mostly lower today. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average dipped 3.08%, China's Shanghai Composite rose 0.86%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.43% and India's BSE Sensex declined 0.48%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Bank of America upgraded Danaher

DHR

from “neutral” to “buy.” The target price for Danaher has been raised from $78 to $90. Danaher's shares closed at $76.15 yesterday.

Breaking news

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