US Stock Futures Flat Ahead Of International Trade Data

Pre-open movers US stock futures traded mostly flat in early pre-market trade, ahead of international trade data. Data on international trade for March will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 5 points to 16,439.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures fell 0.40 points to 1,875.40. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 0.25 points to 3,591.00. A Peek Into Global Markets European markets were mixed today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.36%, STOXX Europe 600 Index gaining 0.08%. German DAX 30 index rose 0.04%, French CAC 40 Index declined 0.09% and London's FTSE 100 Index dropped 0.12%. UK's services PMI surged to 58.7 in April, from 57.6 in March. In Asian markets, China's Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.03% and India's BSE Sensex rose 0.28%. Broker Recommendation Analysts at Bank of America upgraded Seattle Genetics SGEN from “underperform” to “neutral.” The target price for Seattle Genetics has been lowered from $46 to $40. Seattle Genetics' shares closed at $35.10 yesterday. Breaking news

• Xerox XRX today announced a definitive agreement to acquire ISG Holdings, Inc. for $225 million, creating a comprehensive workers' compensation suite of offerings for clients in the property and casualty insurance industry. To read the full news, click here.
• Astellas Pharma ALPMY and Medivation MDVN today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for filing the supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) to extend the indication for XTANDI® (enzalutamide) capsules for the treatment of men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) who have not received chemotherapy. To read the full news, click here.
• Switzerland's bank UBS AG UBS reported a 7% rise in its first-quarter profit. UBS posted its quarterly net profit of 1.054 billion Swiss francs ($1.2 billion), versus a year-ago profit of 988 million francs. To read the full news, click here.
• Merck MRK today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its Merck Consumer Care (MCC) business to Bayer AG BAYRY for $14.2 billion. To read the full news, click here.