US Stock Futures Edge Higher Ahead Of Jobless Claims, Retail Sales Data

Pre-open movers

US stock futures traded slightly higher in early pre-market trade, ahead of economic data. Data on weekly jobless claims, retail sales for May and import price index for May will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Data on business inventories for April will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 8 points to 16,863.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 0.80 points to 1,944.70. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 1.25 points to 3,799.50.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.22%, STOXX Europe 600 Index gaining 0.18%. German DAX 30 index rose 0.08%, French CAC 40 Index gained 0.21% and London's FTSE 100 Index gained 0.12%. French consumer prices remained unchanged in May versus April. In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.64%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index declined 0.35%, China's Shanghai Composite Index dropped 0.16% and India's BSE Sensex rose 0.4%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Goldman Sachs upgraded Hewlett-Packard Company

HPQ

from “sell” to “neutral.” The target price for Hewlett-Packard has been raised from $25 to $32. Hewlett-Packard's shares closed at $33.25 yesterday.

Breaking news

Lululemon Athletica LULU reported better-than-expected first-quarter results and issued a weak second-quarter forecast. The company also announced a $450 million share buyback program. To read the full news, click here.
DDR DDR and an affiliate of Blackstone Real Estate Partners VII today announced the formation of a third joint venture to acquire 76 shopping centers currently owned by American Realty Capital Properties ARCP. To read the full news, click here.
MobileIron MOBL today announced the pricing of its initial public offering of 11,111,111 shares of its common stock at a price of $9.00 per share. To read the full news, click here.
Sanofi SNY and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals REGN today presented positive results from a phase 3 trial of investigational drug sarilumab in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients who were inadequate responders to methotrexate (MTX) therapy. To read the full news, click here.

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