US Stock Futures Down Ahead Of Economic Data

Pre-open movers

US stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade. Data on consumer spending for August will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, while the pending home sales index for August will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. The Dallas Fed general business activity index for September will be released at 10:30 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 69 points to 16,961.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures fell 7.80 points to 1,968.10. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index dropped 16.25 points to 4,029.50.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index dropping 0.86%, STOXX Europe 600 Index falling 0.26%. German DAX 30 index declined 0.23%, French CAC 40 Index slipped 0.33% and London's FTSE 100 Index dropped 0.23%. In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average surged 0.50%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 1.90%, China's Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.43% and India's BSE Sensex dropped 0.11%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Credit Suisse upgraded Nike

NKE

from Neutral to Outperform. The target price for Nike has been raised from $80 to $100. Nike's shares dropped 0.45% to $89.10 in pre-market trading.

Breaking news

AMAG Pharmaceuticals AMAG today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Lumara Health Inc., a privately-held pharmaceutical company specializing in women's health, for $675 million ($600 million in cash and $75 million in stock) and additional contingent consideration of up to $350 million based on achievement of certain sales milestones. To read the full news, click here.
Puma Biotechnology PBYI announced that positive initial data from the ongoing, open label Phase II clinical trial of its investigational drug PB272 (neratinib) for the treatment of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with HER2 mutations was presented today as a late-breaking oral presentation at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2014 Congress, taking place in Madrid, Spain. To read the full news, click here.
Encana Corporation ECA and Athlon Energy ATHL today jointly announced that the two companies have entered into a definitive merger agreement for Encana to acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of common stock of Texas-based Athlon by means of an all-cash tender offer for US$5.93 billion (US$58.50 per share), as well as Encana assuming Athlon's US$1.15 billion of senior notes, for a total transaction value of approximately US$7.1 billion. To read the full news, click here.
Cal-Maine Foods CALM reported a rise in its fiscal first-quarter earnings. To read the full news, click here.

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