US Stock Futures Jump; ADP Report In Focus

Pre-open movers

US stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade. The ADP national employment report for September will be released at 8:15 a.m. ET, while the Chicago PMI for September will be released at 9:45 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 195 points to 16,144.0, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 24.75 points to 1,899.25. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index surged 62.62 points to 4,137.38.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index gaining 2.05 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index jumping 2.44 percent and German DAX 30 index gaining 2.52 percent. French CAC 40 Index rose 2.74 percent and London's FTSE 100 Index rose 2.30 percent. In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 2.70 percent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 1.41 percent, China's Composite Index Index surged 0.48 percent and India's BSE Sensex climbed 1.46 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Mizuho Securities downgraded

Gap IncGPS

from Neutral to Underperform and lowered the price target from $35.00 to $26.00. Gap shares fell 6.95 percent to $28.12 in pre-market trading.

Breaking news

Dyax Corp. DYAX today announced that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) Committee for Orphan Medicinal Products (COMP) has adopted a positive opinion recommending DX-2930 for designation as an orphan medicinal product for the treatment of hereditary angioedema (HAE). To read the full news, click here.
Primoris Services Corp PRIM today announced a new industrial award valued at $11 million for a mining customer. To read the full news, click here.
AirMedia Group Inc (ADR) AMCN today announced that it has entered into a definitive Agreement and Plan of Merger with AirMedia Holdings Ltd. and AirMedia Merger Company Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Parent, pursuant to which Parent will acquire AirMedia for US$3.00 per ordinary share of the Company or US$6.00 per American depositary share, each representing two Shares. To read the full news, click here.
Zafgen Inc ZFGN today announced that the European Commission has granted orphan drug designation for beloranib for the treatment of craniopharyngioma, a rare form of benign brain tumor. To read the full news, click here.

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