US Stock Futures Up; Jobless Claims Data In Focus

Pre-open movers US stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade, ahead of jobless claims data. Data on weekly jobless claims will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 24 points to 16,742.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 1.30 points to 1,927.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 2 points to 3,745.25. A Peek Into Global Markets European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.45%, STOXX Europe 600 Index gaining 0.35%. German DAX 30 index rose 0.46%, French CAC 40 Index jumped 0.44% and London's FTSE 100 Index gained 0.07%. French unemployment rate came in at 10.1% in the first quarter. In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.08%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.18%, China's Shanghai Composite Index climbed 0.79% and India's BSE Sensex jumped 0.86%. The HSBC China services PMI dropped to 50.7 in May, versus 51.4 in April. Australia posted a trade deficit of 122 million Australian dollars (US$113.2 million) in April, versus a revised surplus of A$902 million in March. Broker Recommendation Analysts at FBR Capital upgraded Microsoft MSFT from “market perform” to “outperform.” The target price for Microsoft has been raised from $43 to $49. Microsoft's shares closed at $40.32 yesterday. Breaking news

• Joy Global JOY reported a 59% drop in its fiscal second-quarter earnings. Joy Global's consolidated bookings dropped 7% y/y to $1,048 million. To read the full news, click here.
• Baidu BIDU today announced the pricing of its public offering of US$1.0 billion aggregate principal amount of 2.750% notes due 2019. To read the full news, click here.
• Costco Wholesale COST reported a 6% gain in May same-store sales. Costco's US same-store sales gained 6%, while international same-store sales jumped 4%. To read the full news, click here.
• RCS Capital RCAP announced today that it has priced its previously announced public offering. To read the full news, click here.