US Stock Futures Edge Higher Ahead Of Jobless Claims Data

Pre-open movers

US stock futures rose in early pre-market trading, ahead of jobless claims data. Data on international trade for February and weekly jobless claims will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The Markit PMI services index for March will be released at 9:45 a.m. ET, while the ISM non-manufacturing index for March will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 23 points to 16,510.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 2 points to 1,884.90. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 4 points to 3,662.25.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mixed today, with the Spanish Ibex Index gaining 1.02%, London's FTSE 100 index dropping 0.02% and STOXX Europe 600 Index falling 0.06%. German DAX 30 index declined 0.01% and French CAC 40 Index rose 0.02%. Asian markets ended mixed today. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.84%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumped 0.18% and China's Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.74% and India's BSE Sensex dropped 0.19%.China's official nonmanufacturing PMI slipped to 54.5 in March versus 55.0 in February, while the HSBC China services PMI surged to 51.9 in March versus 51.0 in February. The HSBC India's Service Sector Business Activity Index declined to 47.5 in March versus 48.8 in February.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at JP Morgan upgraded Monsanto Company

MON

from “neutral” to overweight.” The target price for Monsanto has been raised from $115 to $125. Monsanto's shares closed at $114.42 yesterday.

Breaking news

Omeros OMER today announced that its Investigational New Drug Application (IND) to evaluate OMS721 for the inhibition of complement mediated thrombotic microangiopathies (TMAs) has been cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). To read the full news, click here.
Ctrip.com International CTRP today announced that the board of the Company has approved a new share repurchase program whereby Ctrip may purchase its own American depositary shares with an aggregate value of up to US$600 million. To read the full news, click here.
Tarena International TEDU, today announced that it has priced its initial public offering of 15,300,000 American Depositary Shares at US$9.00 per ADS, for a total offering size of US$137.7 million, assuming the underwriters do not exercise their option to purchase additional ADSs. To read the full news, click here.
Response Genetics RGDX today announced that it has signed agreements with six additional health plans across 10 states bringing the Company's total national contracted membership to more than 174 million lives. To read the full news, click here.

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