US Stock Futures Down Ahead Of Home Prices, Consumer Confidence Data

Pre-open movers US stock futures dropped in early pre-market trade, ahead of economic data. The S&P/Case-Shiller home price index for June will be released at 9:00 a.m. ET, while the Conference Board's consumer confidence index for August will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 91 points to 14,840.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures fell 11.50 points to 1,642.70. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index dropped 27.50 points to 3,093.50. A Peek Into Global Markets European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index dropping 1.71%, London's FTSE 100 index falling 0.57% and STOXX Europe 600 Index declining 1.15%. German DAX 30 index fell 1.45% and French CAC 40 Index declined 1.51%. Asian markets ended mostly lower today. China's Shanghai Composite surged 0.34%, while Japan's Nikkei Stock Average dropped 0.69%. Australia's ASX/S&P500 gained 0.07%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.59% and India's Sensex tumbled 3.18%. Broker Recommendation Analysts at UBS upgraded Monsanto Company MON from “neutral” to “buy.” The price target for Monsanto is set to $110. Monsanto's shares closed at $97.65 yesterday. Breaking news

• Regis RGS reported weaker-than-expected fourth-quarter results. Regis posted a quarterly net income of $675,000, or $0.01 per share, versus a year-ago loss of $63.6 million, or $1.11 per share. To read the full news, click here.
• Bayer HealthCare BAYRY and Onyx Pharmaceuticals ONXX today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Priority Review designation to the supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for the oral multi-kinase inhibitor Nexavar® (sorafenib) tablets under evaluation for the treatment of locally advanced or metastatic radioactive iodine (RAI)-refractory differentiated thyroid cancer. To read the full news, click here.
• OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals OGXI today announced initiation of the Rainier™ clinical trial, an investigator-sponsored, randomized, placebo-controlled Phase 2 trial evaluating apatorsen (OGX-427) in combination with ABRAXANE® (paclitaxel protein-bound particles for injectable suspension)(albumin-bound) and gemcitabine in patients with previously untreated metastatic pancreatic cancer. To read the full news, click here.
• Sanderson Farms SAFM reported a rise in its third-quarter profit. Sanderson's quarterly profit surged to $67.9 million, or $2.95 per share, from $28.7 million, or $1.25 per share, in the year-ago period. To read the full news, click here.