US Stock Futures Up Ahead Of Housing Data

Pre-open movers

US stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade, ahead of housing data. The NAHB housing market index for August will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 80 points to 16,711.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 9.40 points to 1,961.80. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 19 points to 4,004.00.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index gaining 0.87%, STOXX Europe 600 Index rising 0.94%. German DAX 30 index surged 1.36%, French CAC 40 Index climbed 1.01% and London's FTSE 100 Index gained 0.67%. In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average jumped 0.03% and China's Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.57%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Deutsche Bank upgraded KapStone Paper and Packaging

from Hold to Buy. The target price for KapStone Paper and Packaging has been raised from $26.00 to $36.00. KapStone Paper and Packaging's shares dropped 0.59% to close at $30.16 on Friday.

Breaking news

Ericsson signs five-year managed services contract with leading Croatian operator Hrvatski Telekom, a member of the Deutsche Telekom Group ()TC: DTEGY) Ericsson will support Hrvatski Telekom in raising the quality and efficiency of its network Hrvatski Telekom, a member of the Deutsche Telekom Group and the leading provider of telecommunications services in Croatia, has selected Ericsson ERIC as its partner in the construction and maintenance of telecommunications infrastructure. To read the full news, click here.
Dollar General DG today announced it has made a proposal to acquire Family Dollar Stores, Inc. FDO for $78.50 per share in cash, in a transaction valued at $9.7 billion. To read the full news, click here.
China Mobile Games and Entertainment Group CMGE announced that effective today, Mr. Shuling Ying has been appointed as our new chief operating officer ("COO"). To read the full news, click here.
Bitauto Holdings BITA today announced that it has entered into an agreement to establish a joint venture ("JV") company, with China Yong Da Automobiles Services Holdings Limited ("Yong Da Group"), one of China's leading automotive dealership groups, and Youxinpai (Beijing) Information Technology Co., Ltd. ("UXIN"), a leading professional electronic auction service provider for used cars in China. To read the full news, click here.

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