US Stock Futures Edge Lower Ahead Of Housing Starts Data - Burlington Stores (NYSE:BURL)

Pre-open movers

US stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade. The Federal Open Market Committee will begin its two-day meeting today. Data on housing starts for February will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 16 points to 17,839, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures fell 3.35 points to 2,065.25. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index slipped 3.50 points to 4,349.25

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mostly lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index dropping 0.63%, STOXX Europe 600 Index falling 0.55% and German DAX 30 index dropping 1%. French CAC 40 Index slipped 0.25% and London's FTSE 100 Index rose 0.26%. In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average gained 0.99%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.20%, China's Shanghai Composite Index gained 1.55% and India's BSE Sensex climbed 1.05%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Stifel Nicolaus upgraded

Black Diamond, Inc. BDE

from Hold to Buy. The price target for Black Diamond is set to $9.00. Black Diamond shares rose 6.24% to $7.49 in after-hours trading.

Breaking news

Paycom Software PAYC announced the promotion of Stacey Pezold from executive vice president of operations to chief operating officer, effective March 10, 2015. To read the full news, click here.
Shares of Burlington Stores Inc. BURL surged more than 2.5% in pre-market trading after the company reported stronger-than-expected results for the fourth quarter. To read the full news, click here.
Incyte Corporation INCY announced today that Novartis received approval from the European Commission for Jakavi (ruxolitinib) for the treatment of adult patients with polycythemia vera (PV) who are resistant to or intolerant of hydroxyurea. To read the full news, click here.
The Greenbrier Companies GBX announced today that it received new orders in its second quarter ended February 28, 2015 for 10,100 railcar units valued at $1.09 billion. To read the full news, click here.

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