US Stock Futures Flat; Citigroup Earnings In Focus - Lexicon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LXRX), Citigroup (NYSE:C)

Pre-open movers

US stock futures traded mostly flat in early pre-market trading, ahead of earnings from Citigroup

. Data on retail sales for March will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, while business inventories data for February will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 4 points to 15,977.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures fell 0.30 points to 1,811.40. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index dropped 2 points to 3,442.00.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 1.34%, London's FTSE 100 index dropping 1.50% and STOXX Europe 600 Index slipping 0.47%. German DAX 30 index dropped 0.56% and French CAC 40 Index fell 0.41%. Asian markets ended mixed today. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average tumbled 0.36%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.15% and China's Shanghai Composite gained 0.05%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey upgraded Yahoo!

YHOO

from “neutral” to “buy.” The target price for Yahoo! is set to $40. Yahoo's shares fell 0.90% to $33.10 in pre-market trading.

Breaking news

Lexicon Pharmaceuticals LXRX announced today positive, top-line results in a Phase 2 clinical trial of LX4211 in type 1 diabetes, which achieved the primary endpoint of reducing mealtime insulin use as well as several secondary endpoints, including improved glycemic control. To read the full news, click here.
NeoStem NBS announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire California Stem Cell, Inc. ("CSC"), an Irvine, California based stem cell biotechnology company. To read the full news, click here.
pSivida PSDV today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has established a Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) goal date of September 26, 2014 for ILUVIEN® following the recent resubmission of the New Drug Application (NDA) by pSivida's licensee, Alimera Sciences. To read the full news, click here.
Nabors Industries NBR announced today additional changes to its corporate governance and compensation practices. Building upon initiatives announced during 2013, these changes reflect the Company's ongoing dialogue with its shareholders. To read the full news, click here.

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