US Stock Futures Up Ahead Of Jobless Claims, Retail Sales Data

Pre-open moversUS stock futures gained in early pre-market trading, ahead of economic data. Data on weekly jobless claims, retail sales for February and import prices for February will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Data on business inventories for January will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 26 points to 16,365.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 3.80 points to 1,871.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index climbed 9.50 points to 3,716.25.A Peek Into Global Markets European markets were mostly lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index dropping 0.05%, London's FTSE 100 index falling 0.16% and STOXX Europe 600 Index declining 0.03%. German DAX 30 index rose 0.17% and French CAC 40 Index declined 0.05%.Asian markets ended mostly lower today. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average declined 0.10%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slipped 0.67%, China's Shanghai Composite Index surged 1.07% and India's BSE Index fell 0.5%. China's January-February industrial output rose 8.6% y/y, while retail sales climbed 11.8% y/y. Japan's core machinery orders surged 13.4% in January versus the earlier month.Broker RecommendationAnalysts at Bank of America downgraded Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: EA) from “buy” to “neutral.”Electronic Arts shares fell 1.33% to $29.59 in pre-market trading. Breaking news

• Mylan (NASDAQ: MYL) today confirmed that the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia has ruled invalid a patent, United States Patent No. RE44,048, related to Pfizer's Celebrex® (celecoxib) 50 mg, 100 mg, 200 mg and 400 mg capsules. To read the full news, click here.
• CombiMatrix (NASDAQ: CBMX), a molecular diagnostics company specializing in DNA-based testing services for developmental disorders and cancer diagnostics, today announced that it has been selected by American Pathology Partners (AP2) to provide its chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA) testing for miscarriage analysis to AP2 patients. To read the full news, click here.
• Foster Wheeler (NASDAQ: FWLT) announced today that an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of the Company has entered into a merger implementation agreement with MDM Engineering Group to acquire all of the ordinary shares and options in issue of MDM Engineering in a cash transaction valued at approximately $109 million. To read the full news, click here.
• Williams-Sonoma (NYSE: WSM) surged in pre-market trading after the company announced its fourth quarter results on Wednesday. The retailer reported a Q4 EPS of $1.38 versus the Street estimate of $1.36. Earnings per share were up three percent from the year-ago period. To read the full news, click here.