A Peek Into The Market Before The Trading Starts

Pre-open moversUS stock futures are flat this morning. Shares of Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN) surged about 6.4% in pre-market trading after the company reported upbeat quarterly results. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1 point to 12,433.00 and S&P 500 index futures fell 1.20 points to 1,325.00. Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 3 points to 2,420.50. A Peek Into Global Markets European markets were lower today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index dropped 0.49%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved down 0.26%, French CAC 40 index fell 0.79% and German DAX 30 index dropped 0.43%.Most Asian markets ended lower, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average dipping 0.4940%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving down 0.73% and China's Shanghai Composite rising 0.76%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.1346% and India's Sensex dipped 0.51%. Broker RecommendationAnalysts at Morgan Keegan upgraded Mednax Inc (NYSE: MD) from “market perform” to “outperform.” The target price for Mednax has been raised from $70 to $85.Mednax shares fell 1.27% to close at $70.50 yesterday. Breaking news

• WellPoint Inc (NYSE: WLP) reported a 2.9% drop in its second-quarter net profit and lifted its forecast for 2011. To read the full news, click here.
• Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc (NYSE: TMO) reported a rise in its second-quarter net profit and lifted its earnings forecast for the year. To read the full news, click here.
• Hess Corporation (NYSE: HES) announced today that, in partnership with Petroceltic International PLC, it has signed production sharing contracts with the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq for its Dinarta and Shakrok exploration blocks. To read the full news, click here.
• China Nutrifruit Group Limited (NYSE: CNGL) today announced that the Company commenced its fiscal year 2012 production operations on July 25, 2011. To read the full news, click here.