US Stock Futures Edge Higher Ahead Of McDonald's Earnings - Eli Lilly and Co (NYSE:LLY), GSK (NYSE:GSK)

Pre-open movers

US stock futures gained in early pre-market trade, ahead of earnings from McDonald's

MCD

and Lockheed Martin

LMT

. The FHFA house price index for February will be released at 9:00 a.m. ET, while existing home sales data for March and the Richmond Fed manufacturing index for April will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 10 points to 16,381.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures gained 0.60 points to 1,865.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index rose 6.75 points to 3,558.00.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.96%, London's FTSE 100 index gaining 1.01% and STOXX Europe 600 Index surging 1.09%. German DAX 30 index climbed 1.49% and French CAC 40 Index gained 0.83%. Asian markets ended mostly lower today. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.85%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dropped 0.13%, China's Shanghai Composite surged 0.34% and India's BSE Sensex fell 0.03%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Credit Suisse upgraded The NASDAQ OMX Group

NDAQ

from “neutral” to “outperform.” The target price for NASDAQ OMX Group has been raised from $40 to $42. NASDAQ OMX Group's shares closed at $35.48 yesterday.

Breaking news

Eli Lilly and Company LLY today announced an agreement to acquire Novartis Animal Health NVS for approximately $5.4 billion in an all-cash transaction that will strengthen and diversify Lilly's own animal health business, Elanco. To read the full news, click here.
United Technologies UTX reported better-than-expected first-quarter profit. United Technologies' quarterly net profit dropped 4% to $1.2 billion, or $1.32 per share. To read the full news, click here.
Novartis NVS announced today that it has reached a definitive agreement with GlaxoSmithKline plc GSK to exchange certain assets, building global leadership in key segments and focusing the company's portfolio. To read the full news, click here.
Salix Pharmaceuticals SLXP and Progenics Pharmaceuticals PGNX announced today that the submission to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) of RELISTOR®(methylnaltrexone bromide) Subcutaneous Injection for the treatment of opioid-induced constipation (OIC) in adult patients with chronic non-cancer pain, has been accepted for review. To read the full news, click here.

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