US Stock Futures Surge Ahead Of ISM Report - Conn's (NASDAQ:CONN), AutoZone (NYSE:AZO)

Pre-open movers

US stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade, ahead of economic data. The Markit PMI manufacturing index for August will be released at 9:45 a.m. ET, while the ISM manufacturing composite index for August and construction spending data for July will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 36 points to 17,121.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 4 points to 2,005.40. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 11.50 points to 4,093.50.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.55%, STOXX Europe 600 Index gaining 0.29%. German DAX 30 index climbed 0.87%, French CAC 40 Index rose 0.43% and London's FTSE 100 Index gained 0.14%. The euro-zone's producer prices dropped 0.1% in July from June, and fell 1.1% versus the year-ago month. In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average jumped 1.24%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.01%, China's Shanghai Composite Index surged 1.37% and India's BSE Sensex jumped 0.57%. Australia's current account deficit widened to A$13.7 billion in the second quarter.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Jefferies downgraded Finisar

FNSR

from Buy to Hold. The target price for Finisar has been lowered from $25 to $19. Finisar's shares closed at $20.31 on Friday.

Breaking news

Select Income REIT SIR today announced that its Board has unanimously approved a definitive merger agreement to acquire all of the outstanding common stock of Cole Corporate Income Trust (CCIT) for approximately $3.0 billion, payable in a combination of cash and SIR common shares plus the assumption of certain mortgage debt, to create an office and industrial net lease REIT leader. To read the full news, click here.
Dollar General DG today announced that it has sent an enhanced acquisition proposal to the Board of Directors of Family Dollar Stores FDO. Under the terms of the revised proposal, Dollar General would increase its all-cash proposal for all outstanding shares of Family Dollar to $80.00 per share. To read the full news, click here.
AutoZone AZO, today announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to purchase Interamerican Motor Corporation (IMC). To read the full news, click here.
Shares of Conn's CONN tumbled more than 23% in pre-market trading after the company reported weaker-than-expected second-quarter earnings and cut its full-year forecast. To read the full news, click here.

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