US Stock Futures Slightly Lower Ahead of Jobless Claims, Existing-Home Sales Data - Bank of America (NYSE:BAC)

Pre-open movers

US stock futures were slightly lower in early pre-market trade. Data on weekly jobless claims will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The general conditions index of the Philadelphia Fed's Survey, existing-home sales data and the Conference Board's index of leading indicators will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 6 points to 16,103.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures declined 0.90 points to 1,803.80. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index tumbled 6.75 points to 3,501.75.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 1.90%, London's FTSE 100 index gaining 1.01% and STOXX Europe 600 Index surging 1.47%. German DAX 30 index climbed 1.39% and French CAC 40 Index surged 1.14%. Asian markets ended mostly lower today. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average surged 1.74%, China's Shanghai Composite dropped 0.95%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 1.10% and India's BSE Sensex declined 0.73%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Credit Suisse upgraded Thomson Reuters

TRI

from “neutral” to “outperform.” The target price for Thomson Reuters has been raised from $36 to $43. Thomson Reuters's shares closed at $36.60 yesterday.

Breaking news

The Hershey Company HSY announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Hershey Netherlands B.V., has signed an agreement to acquire 80 percent of the iconic Shanghai Golden Monkey Food Joint Stock Co., Ltd. (SGM), a privately held confectionery company based in Shanghai, China To read the full news, click here.
The Middleby Corporation MIDD today announced the acquisition of Automatic Bar Controls, a leading manufacturer of beverage dispensing systems for the foodservice industry. To read the full news, click here.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Earthport EPCUF, the cross-border payments service provider and existing key supplier for the bank, today announced a multi-year agreement to significantly expand Bank of America Merrill Lynch's low-value clearing capabilities globally, and to advance the efficiency of its high-volume, low-value payments. To read the full news, click here.
Global Cash Access, a wholly owned subsidiary of Global Cash Access Holdings GCA today announced that it has signed agreements with one of its top customers, MGM Resorts International MGM, to continue providing its core cash access services, and to begin offering GCA's full suite of ticket redemption kiosks and services to MGM Resorts properties. To read the full news, click here.

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