A Peek Into The Market Before The Trading Starts

Pre-open moversUS stock futures are lower this morning, as investors are awaiting economic data. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 27 points to 13,305.00 and S&P 500 index futures fell 4.30 points to 1,452.80. Nasdaq 100 futures declined 4.75 points to 2,734.00. A Peek Into Global Markets European markets were mostly lower today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index rose 0.17%, London's FTSE 100 Index dropped 0.03%, German DAX 30 Index declined 0.28% and French CAC 40 Index fell 0.68%.Asian markets ended higher, with Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index gaining 0.82%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 0.37% and India's Sensex rose 0.26%.Broker RecommendationAnalysts at Sterne Agee upgraded Citigroup (NYSE: C) from “neutral” to “buy.” The target price for Citigroup is set to $50.Citigroup shares dropped 0.12% to $41.20 in pre-market trading. Breaking news

• Trimble (NASDAQ: TRMB) announced today that it has acquired privately-held ALK Technologies Inc. of Princeton, NJ, a global leader in routing, mapping, mileage and navigation technologies. To read the full news, click here.
• Dr. Reddy's Laboratories (NYSE: RDY) announced today that is has launched Finasteride Tablets (1 mg), a bioequivalent generic version of Propecia® (Finasteride) Tablets in the US market on January 02, 2013. To read the full news, click here.
• Acacia Research (NASDAQ: ACTG) announced today that its Automated Facilities Management Corporation subsidiary has entered into a license and settlement agreement with Planon Corporation. To read the full news, click here.
• bebe stores (NASDAQ: BEBE) today announced a Chief Executive Officer succession and said that Steve Birkhold will join the company as CEO, effective immediately. To read the full news, click here.