A Peek Into The Market Before The Trading Starts

Pre-open moversUS stock futures are higher this morning. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 121 points to 10,968.00 and S&P 500 index futures rose 15.30 points to 1,138.60. Nasdaq 100 futures gained 26.00 points to 2,070.00. A Peek Into Global Markets European markets were higher today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index gained 1.08%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved up 1.10%, French CAC 40 index rose 1.57% and German DAX 30 index gained 1.34%.Asian markets ended higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rising 1.2156%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving up 2.14% and China's Shanghai Composite gaining 1.52%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 1.9945% and India's Sensex climbed 0.96%. Broker RecommendationAnalysts at Jefferies & Company upgraded Aetna Inc (NYSE: AET) from “hold” to “buy.” The target price for Aetna has been raised from $47 to $51.Aetna shares dipped 0.70% to close at $35.23 yesterday. Breaking news

• Williams-Sonoma Inc (NYSE: WSM) reported a 28% rise in its FQ2 net income. Williams-Sonoma reported its quarterly profit at $39.3 million, or $0.37 per share, up from $30.8 million, or $0.28 per share, in the year-ago quarter. To read the full news, click here.
• Swiss bank UBS (NYSE: UBS) announced plans Tuesday to cut approximately 3,500 jobs in its global workforce, as the wave of cost-cutting initiatives continues through Wall Street. To read the full news, click here.
• Technology giant Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) has begun production of a cheaper 8GB version of its wildly popular iPhone, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters Tuesday. To read the full news, click here.
• NetSol Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: NTWK) today announced that a major U.S. aerospace defense contractor has signed an agreement to implement NetSol's smartOCI search engine software in its SAP eProcurement environment. To read the full news, click here.