US Stock Futures Flat Ahead Of Federal Budget

Pre-open movers US stock futures traded mostly flat in early pre-market trade, after upbeat Chinese data. The U.S. Treasury monthly budget report for January will be released at 2:00 p.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 6 points to 15,935.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 1 point to 1,814.60. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 4 points to 3,616.75. A Peek Into Global Markets European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.10%, London's FTSE 100 index gaining 0.23% and STOXX Europe 600 Index climbing 0.62%. German DAX 30 index rose 0.89% and French CAC 40 Index climbed 0.40%. French current account deficit narrowed to EUR1.2 billion in December versus EUR1.9 billion in November. The Bank of England lifted its UK growth outlook for 2014 to 3.4% versus a prior forecast of 2.8%. Asian markets ended higher today. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average jumped 0.56%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index surged 1.47%, China's Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.30% and India's BSE Sensex gained 0.42%.China's exports surged 10.6% y/y in January versus a 4.3% growth in December, while imports rose 10% versus an 8.3% advance in the previous month. Australia's consumer sentiment dropped to 100.2 points in February versus January. Broker Recommendation Analysts at UBS downgraded Amazon.com AMZN from “buy” to “neutral.” The price target for Amazon.com has been lowered from $450 to $375. Amazon.com's shares closed at $361.79 yesterday. Breaking news

• Deere & Co DE reported a rise in its first-quarter profit. Deere's quarterly profit surged to $681.1 million, or $1.81 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $649.7 million, or $1.65 per share. To read the full news, click here.
• AMCOL International ACO today announced it has signed a definitive merger agreement with Imerys SA IMYSF pursuant to which AMCOL shareholders will receive USD $41 per share in cash for each share of AMCOL common stock that they own, without interest. To read the full news, click here.
• WellCare Health Plans WCG reported a 12% drop in its fourth-quarter earnings. For the new year, WellCare expects earnings of $3.75 to $4.05 per share on premium revenue of $11.6 billion to $11.75 billion. To read the full news, click here.
• Amazon.com AMZN today announced it is hiring for more than 2,500 new, full-time jobs across its growing U.S. fulfillment network. Median pay inside Amazon fulfillment centers is 30 percent higher than traditional retail jobs. To read the full news, click here.