US Stock Futures Point To Lower Open Monday

Pre-open movers US stock futures traded lower in early pre-market trade. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 46 points to 17,907.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures fell 6.60 points to 2,069.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index dropped 14 points to 4,299.25. A Peek Into Global Markets European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.16%, STOXX Europe 600 Index dropping 0.38%. German DAX 30 index slipped 0.41%, French CAC 40 Index tumbled 0.62% and London's FTSE 100 Index fell 0.72%. Germany's industrial output climbed 0.2% on the month in October. In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.08%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index climbed 0.19%, China's Shanghai Composite Index jumped 2.81% and India's Sensex slipped 1.19%. China's exports gained 4.7% in November. Japan's posted a current account surplus of Y833.4 billion in October, versus a deficit of Y154.3 billion in the year-ago month. Japan's economy contracted 1.9% in the third quarter, versus the earlier three-month period. Broker Recommendation Analysts at Goldman Sachs upgraded Southwest Airlines Company LUV from Neutral to Buy. The price target for Southwest Airlines has been raised from $44 to $55. Southwest Airlines' shares closed at $41.12 on Friday. Breaking news

• Descartes Systems Group DSGX has acquired Pentant, a leading UK-based Community System Provider (CSP) offering customs connectivity and import/export inventory control solutions for ocean, truck and air cargo. To read the full news, click here.
• Affimed N.V. AFMD today announced that final clinical analyses of a Phase 1 study with the company's lead program AFM13 were presented at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting 2014 in San Francisco, California, in a poster presentation on December 6, 2014. To read the full news, click here.
• Merck & Co MRK, is reportedly in talks to acquire Lexington, MA-based Cubist Pharmaceuticals CBST for around $7.5 billion, or approximately $100 per share according to the NY Times DealBook. To read the full news, click here.
• Hanwha SolarOne Co HSOL, Hanwha Solar Holdings Co and Hanwha Q CELLS Investment Co announced today a definitive share purchase agreement to create a new global leader in solar power. To read the full news, click here.