US Stock Futures Rise Ahead Of International Trade Data

Pre-open movers US stock futures surged in early pre-market trade, ahead of international trade data. Data on international trade for November will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 50 points to 16,415.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures gained 5.90 points to 1,826.60. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index rose 13.75 points to 3,531.50. A Peek Into Global Markets European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 1.66%, London's FTSE 100 index gaining 0.38% and STOXX Europe 600 Index rising 0.42%. German DAX 30 index surged 0.53% and French CAC 40 Index climbed 0.42%. German jobless claims declined by 15,000 in December versus November. French consumer confidence surged to 85 in December, versus 84 in November. Asian markets ended mixed today. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average tumbled 0.59%, China's Shanghai Composite rose 0.08%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 0.138% and India's BSE Sensex fell 0.45%. Broker Recommendation Analysts at Morgan Stanley downgraded Netflix NFLX from “equal-weight” to “underweight.” The target price for Netflix has been lowered from $333 to $310. Netflix's shares fell 0.97% to close at $359.57 yesterday. Breaking news

• Hanwha SolarOne HSOL today announced it has reached a memorandum of understanding with OneRoof Energy, a complete solar services provider, to supply up to 50 megawatts of Photovoltaic modules. To read the full news, click here.
• Commtouch CTCH announced it is operating globally under the name CYREN, effective immediately. To read the full news, click here.
• Community Health Systems CYH today announced that it and its wholly-owned subsidiary CHS/Community Health Systems, Inc. are launching a credit facility financing in connection with the previously announced acquisition of Health Management Associates HMA.To read the full news, click here.
• IHS IHS reported an upbeat fourth-quarter profit. IHS projects FY14 total revenue of $2.17 to $2.23 billion and an adjusted profit of $5.50 to $5.85 per share. To read the full news, click here.