US Stock Futures Surge; All Eyes On Jobs Report

Pre-open moversUS stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade. Data on Nonfarm payrolls and international trade for November will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 54.5 points to 17,540.5, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 6.75 point to 2,058.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 11.50 points to 4,622.50. A Peek Into Global MarketsEuropean markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index declining 0.66 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index falling 0.43 percent and German DAX 30 index dropping 0.40 percent. French CAC 40 Index dipped 0.46 percent and London's FTSE 100 Index fell 0.14 percent.In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average fell 2.18 percent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.81 percent, China's Shanghai Composite Index slipped 1.67 percent and India's BSE Sensex dropped 0.96 percent.Broker RecommendationRBC Capital upgraded Dollar Tree, Inc. (NASDAQ: DLTR) from Outperform to Top Pick and raised the price target from $88.00 to $90.00.Dollar Tree shares fell 2.56 percent to close at $74.09 on Thursday.Breaking news

• General Electric Company (NYSE: GE) announced today that it has completed the sale of a portfolio of first lien mortgage loans from its UK Home lending business, representing aggregate ending net investment (ENI) of approximately US$5.8 billion to an investment consortium made up of opportunistic funds managed by Blackstone, TPG Special Situations Partners (TSSP), and CarVal Investors.To read the full news, click here.
• Navidea Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE MKT: NAVB) today announced that results from an investigator-initiated imaging study demonstrated Lymphoseek® (technetium Tc 99m tilmanocept) injection reduced imaging time by more than 50% in sentinel lymph node biopsy procedures in malignant melanoma compared to Tc99m sulfur colloid. To read the full news, click here.
• Douglas Emmett, Inc. (NYSE: DEI) announced today that Mona Gisler, its Chief Accounting Officer, will become its Chief Financial Officer effective January 1, 2016, replacing Theodore Guth who will retire as CFO December 31, 2015. To read the full news, click here.
• Egalet Corporation (NASDAQ: EGLT) today announced the termination of its collaboration with Shionogi Limited around its abuse-deterrent, extended-release hydrocodone product candidate. To read the full news, click here.