A Peek Into The Market Before The Trading Starts

Pre-open movers US stock futures are lower this morning, as investors are awaiting consumer-sentiment data. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 61 points to 12,781.00 and S&P 500 index futures fell 8.80 points to 1,339.50. Nasdaq 100 futures dipped 12.50 points to 2,548.50. A Peek Into Global Markets European markets were lower today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index dropped 0.60%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved down 0.52%, French CAC 40 index fell 1% and German DAX 30 index dropped 1.26%. Asian markets ended mostly lower, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average dropping 0.61%, China's Shanghai Composite rising 0.10% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving down 0.79%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 1.08% and India's Sensex dipped 0.46%. Broker Recommendation Analysts at Robert W. Baird upgraded Sealed Air Corporation SEE from “neutral” to “outperform.” The target price for Sealed Air has been raised from $19 to $26. Sealed Air shares gained 1.52% to close at $20.76 yesterday. Breaking news

• Exelixis Inc EXEL today announced the pricing of its underwritten public offering of 11,000,000 shares of newly issued common stock at a price to the public of $5.50 per share. To read the full news, click here.
• Royal Bank of Scotland RBS is the latest bank to fire employees in connection with a Libor probe aimed at catching interest-rate manipulators, but the stock is also being battered by Greece yet again. To read the full news, click here.
• ValueVision Media Inc VVTV, a multichannel electronic retailer operating as ShopNBC (www.shopnbc.com), today announced it has secured a $40 million, lower-cost revolving credit facility with PNC Bank, National Association. To read the full news, click here.
• Buckeye Partners LP BPL announced today that its subsidiary, Buckeye Tank Terminals LLC, has signed a definitive agreement with Chevron U.S.A. Inc. to acquire a marine terminal facility for liquid petroleum products in New York Harbor for $260 million in cash. To read the full news, click here.