US Stock Futures Up Ahead Of Earnings, Consumer Confidence Data

Pre-open movers US stock futures gained in early pre-market trade, ahead of earnings from several major companies. The Federal Open Market Committee will begin its two-day policy meeting today. The S&P/Case-Shiller home price index for February will be released at 9:00 a.m. ET, while the Conference Board's consumer confidence index for April will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 42 points to 16,439.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 5.70 points to 1,871.70. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 16.25 points to 3,557.00. A Peek Into Global Markets European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.84%, London's FTSE 100 index gaining 0.66% and STOXX Europe 600 Index surging 0.74%. German DAX 30 index gained 1.19% and French CAC 40 Index rose 0.42%. UK's economy expanded 0.8% in the first quarter. Spain's unemployment rate increased to 25.9% in the first quarter. French consumer confidence fell to 85 in April versus 88 in March. Asian markets ended mostly higher today. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index surged 1.45%, China's Shanghai Composite rose 0.84% and India's BSE Index declined 0.73%. Broker Recommendation Analysts at Bank of America upgraded Chegg CHGG from “neutral” to “buy.” The target price for Chegg is set to $8. Chegg's shares closed at $5.25 yesterday. Breaking news

• Teva Pharmaceutical TEVA announced today that the European Commission has granted marketing authorization for DuoResp Spiromax® for the treatment of patients with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) where the use of a combination of an inhaled corticosteroid and long-acting beta2-adrenoceptor agonist is appropriate. To read the full news, click here.
• BP plc BP posted a drop in its first-quarter profit and raised its dividend. To read the full news, click here.
• Bristol-Myers Squibb Company BMY and iPierian announced today that Bristol-Myers Squibb has acquired iPierian, a privately held biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of new treatments for Tauopathies, a class of neurodegenerative diseases associated with the pathological aggregation of Tau protein in the human brain. To read the full news, click here.
• Archer Daniels Midland Co ADM reported weaker-than-expected first-quarter earnings. ADM's quarterly profit slipped to $267 million, or $0.40 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $269 million, or $0.41 per share. To read the full news, click here.