A Peek Into The Market Before The Trading Starts

Pre-open movers US stock futures are lower this morning, ahead of factory orders and minutes of the recent Fed meeting. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 21 points to 13,168.00 and S&P 500 index futures fell 2.30 points to 1,410.30. Nasdaq 100 futures declined 2 points to 2,775.00. A Peek Into Global Markets European markets were lower today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index dropped 0.38%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved down 0.21%, French CAC 40 index fell 0.41% and German DAX 30 index dropped 0.15%. Asian markets ended mostly higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average dropping 0.59% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving up 0.18%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 1.31% and India's Sensex gained 0.68%. Broker Recommendation Analysts at Citigroup upgraded Urban Outfitters Inc URBN from “sell” to “neutral.” The target price for Urban Outfitters has been raised from $26 to $32. Urban Outfitters shares gained 2.61% to $30.31 in after-hours trading. Breaking news

• Roche RHHBY released the following statement in response to the announcement by Illumina Inc ILMN that its Board of Directors has recommended that shareholders not tender their shares to Roche's increased offer. To read the full news, click here.
• Acacia Research Corporation ACTG announced today that its B.I. Systems LLC subsidiary has entered into a settlement and license agreement with Actuate Corporation. To read the full news, click here.
• R. R. Donnelley & Sons Company RRD today announced that it has taken an equity stake in San Francisco-based Real Valuable Corporation, maker of the CoffeeTable iPad catalog shopping app (coffeetable.com). To read the full news, click here.
• Flagstone Reinsurance Holdings SA FSR today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement with a wholly-owned subsidiary of ANV Holdings BV, under which ANV, with capital support from Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board, will acquire the Company's Lloyd's operations for approximately $48 million in cash. To read the full news, click here.