US Stock Futures Up Ahead Of Pending Home Sales - Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT), Acacia Research (NASDAQ:ACTG)

Pre-open movers

US stock futures gained in early pre-market trade, ahead of pending home sales data. The pending home sales index for October will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET, while the Dallas Fed general business activity index for November will be released at 10:30 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 62 points to 16,089.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 5.90 points to 1,807.10. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 13 points to 3,433.00.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.11%, London's FTSE 100 index gaining 0.31% and STOXX Europe 600 Index surging 0.53%. German DAX 30 index rose 0.87% and French CAC 40 Index climbed 0.50%. Asian markets ended mixed today. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average surged 1.54%, China's Shanghai Composite declined 0.47%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.05% and India's BSE Sensex jumped 1.92%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Bank of America upgraded Caterpillar

CAT

from “neutral” to “buy.” The target price for Caterpillar has been raised from $87 to $100. Caterpillar's shares closed at $82.88 on Friday.

Breaking news

Taro Pharmaceutical Industries TARO announced today that it has commenced a modified “Dutch auction” tender offer to repurchase up to $200 million of its ordinary shares at a price not greater than $97.50 per share nor less than $84.50 per share. To read the full news, click here.
Giant Interactive Group GA announced today that its Board of Directors has received a preliminary non-binding proposal letter, dated November 25, 2013, from the Company's Chairman, Mr. Yuzhu Shi and an affiliate of Baring Private Equity Asia. To read the full news, click here.
Acacia Research ACTG announced today that its Optimum Power Solutions LLC subsidiary has entered into a patent license and settlement agreement with Panasonic PCRFY. To read the full news, click here.
Nestlé NSRGF has invested CHF 9.9 million to expand production at one of its major regional manufacturing hubs, in western Turkey, creating an additional 100 jobs. To read the full news, click here.

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