A Peek Into The Market Before The Trading Starts

Pre-open movers

US stock futures are higher this morning, as investors are awaiting consumer data. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 21 points to 14,957.00 and S&P 500 index futures rose 2.40 points to 1,609.00. Nasdaq 100 futures gained 3 points to 2,902.50.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were lower today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index declined 0.40%, London's FTSE 100 index dropped 0.12%, French CAC 40 Index dropped 0.57% and German DAX 30 index fell 0.22%. Asian markets ended mostly higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average jumping 3.51%, China's Shanghai Composite surging 1.50% and Australia's ASX/S&P500 falling 0.20%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 1.78% and India's Sensex surged 2.75%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Bank of America upgraded Bed Bath & Beyond

BBBY

from “neutral” to “buy.” The target price for Bed Bath & Beyond has been raised from $75 to $82. Bed Bath & Beyond shares closed at $70.15 yesterday.

Breaking news

Renren RENN today announced that its board of directors has authorized a new share repurchase program. To read the full news, click here.
Pactera PACT today announced it has become an authorized Hortonworks Systems Integration Partner, providing Apache Hadoop consulting and integration services for the Hortonworks Data Platform. To read the full news, click here.
Noodles & Company NDLS announced the pricing of its initial public offering of 5,357,143 shares of Class A common stock at a price to the public of $18.00 per share. To read the full news, click here.
BlackBerry BBRY posted a loss in the first quarter. To read the full news, click here.

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