US Stock Futures Gain Ahead Of Home Sales Report - Deckers Outdoor (NYSE:DECK)

Pre-open movers

US stock futures rose in early pre-market trade. The pending home sales index for March will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET, while the Dallas Fed general business activity index for April will be released at 10:30 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 44 points to 16,368.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 4.70 points to 1,864.80. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 9 points to 3,539.50.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.46%, London's FTSE 100 index gaining 0.25% and STOXX Europe 600 Index surging 0.37%. German DAX 30 index gained 0.66% and French CAC 40 Index rose 0.52%. Asian markets ended lower today. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.98%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index tumbled 0.41%, China's Shanghai Composite fell 1.62% and India's BSE Index declined 0.25%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Credit Suisse upgraded Deckers Outdoor

DECK

from “underperform” to “neutral.” The target price for Deckers Outdoor has been raised from $61 to $82. Deckers Outdoor's shares closed at $83.16 on Friday.

Breaking news

Forest Laboratories FRX and Furiex Pharmaceuticals FURX today announced that Forest has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Furiex, a drug development collaboration company, for $95 per share, or approximately $1.1 billion in cash, and up to $30 per share (approximately $360 million in aggregate) in a Contingent Value Right (CVR) that may be payable based on the status of eluxadoline, Furiex's lead product, as a controlled drug following approval. To read the full news, click here.
Haemonetics HAE announced that its Board of Directors has approved the repurchase of up to $100 million of shares, consistent with its loan covenants. To read the full news, click here.
GW Pharmaceuticals GWPH today announced that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Fast Track designation to Sativex® for the treatment of pain in patients with advanced cancer, who experience inadequate analgesia during optimized chronic opioid therapy. To read the full news, click here.
GasLog Partners GLOP today announced the commencement of an initial public offering of 8,400,000 common units representing limited partnership interests. To read the full news, click here.

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