A Peek Into The Market Before The Trading Starts

Pre-open movers

US stock futures are higher this morning, as investors are awaiting economic data. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 18 points to 14,473.00 and S&P 500 index futures rose 0.60 points to 1,558.30. Nasdaq 100 futures gained 4.50 points to 2,806.75.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index rose 0.42%, London's FTSE 100 Index gained 0.50%, French CAC 40 Index climbed 0.43% and German DAX 30 index rose 0.39%. Asian markets ended mostly lower, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average falling 1.26%, China's Shanghai Composite tumbling 2.82% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dropping 0.54%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.74% and India's Sensex surged 0.70%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Bank of America upgraded Greenbrier Companies (The)

GBX

from “underperform” to “neutral.” The target price for Greenbrier has been raised from $18 to $25. Greenbrier shares closed at $21.33 yesterday.

Breaking news

MidOcean Partners (through one of its affiliates), a leading private equity firm, today announced that it has made a proposal to the board of directors of EDAC Technologies Corporation EDAC to acquire all of the outstanding shares of EDAC for $18.25 per share in cash. To read the full news, click here.
Chembio Diagnostics CEMI today announced that it has priced an underwritten public offering of 1,200,000 shares of its common stock. To read the full news, click here.
Wilshire Bancorp WIBC, the parent company of Wilshire State Bank, announced Wednesday that its Board of Directors has authorized the repurchase of up to 5% of its outstanding common stock or approximately 3.6 million shares. To read the full news, click here.
Omeros OMER today announced data from toxicology studies evaluating OMS721, the lead human monoclonal antibody in Omeros' mannan-binding lectin-associated serine protease-2 (MASP-2) program. To read the full news, click here.

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