A Peek Into The Market Before The Trading Starts

Pre-open movers US stock index futures are mostly higher this morning after strong earnings report from Apple Inc AAPL. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 12 points to 11,823, while S&P 500 futures declined 0.50 point to 1,294. Nasdaq 100 futures gained 0.25 point to 2,331. A Peek Into Global Markets Negative sentiment ruled the European markets today. While STOXX Europe 600 Index has dropped 0.42%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved down 0.19%. Asian markets ended in the positive territory, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average gaining 0.36%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving up 0.66% and China's Shanghai Composite rising 1.81%. Broker Recommendation Piper Jaffray is downgrading shares of Fastenal Company FAST to Neutral from Outperform and cut its price target to $62 from $64. In a note to clients, Piper Jaffray writes, "We are downgrading shares of Fastenal to Neutral from Overweight as we struggle to see what catalysts Fastenal can implement to drive relative outperformance as they face increasingly more difficult comps as well as end markets that remain challenging. We believe shares remain relatively expensive compared to other companies in our universe and we struggle to justify the lofty multiple as they are likely to face challenges going into a second year of a modest recovery. Our PT goes to $62 based on 25x our new CY12 EPS estimate of $2.46." Shares of FAST gained $1.06 yesterday to close at $60.95. Breaking news

• Goldman Sachs GS reports its Q4 EPS at $3.79, beating the consensus of $3.76. To read the full news, click here.
• EarthLink, Inc. ELNK today announced that its Board of Directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend on its common stock. To read the full news, click here.
• Boston, Massachusetts-based State Street Corporation STT released financial results on Wednesday morning. To read the full news, click here.
• Wells Fargo & Company WFC reports its Q4 EPS at $0.61, versus the consensus of $0.61. To read the full news, click here.

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