A Peek Into The Market Before The Trading Starts

Pre-open movers US stock futures are largely flat on Thursday, after having risen significantly on Wednesday due to improving economic data. Investors are now looking forward to data on the weekly unemployment insurance claims. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 6 points at 10,266, while those for the S&P 500 were up 1.20 to 1,083. Nasdaq futures have gained 2.75 points to 1,823. A Peek Into Global Markets Positive sentiments ruled the European markets today. While STOXX Europe 600 Index has advanced 0.05%, London’s FTSE 100 Index moved up 0.12%. Asian markets ended in the positive territory, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average adding 1.52%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving up 0.80% and China's Shanghai Composite gaining 1.25%. Broker Recommendation J.P. Morgan is out with a research report this morning, where it reiterates its Neutral rating on Brown-Forman Corp. BF; it has a $62.00 price target on the stock, up from $58.00. The JPM analysts cited the company’s recent earnings report, which was worse than expected due to a foreign exchange miss and higher costs. Sales were weaker than expected in the US, though some of this negativity was offset by international trends. The analysts noted that management remained cautious on the US, noting that trends were weakening into their fiscal Q1. Underlying net sales in the US were down LSD, vs. up 8% internationally and depletions for Jack Daniels whiskey were -4% in the US (in part due to cycling a buy-in in some states) vs. +9% intl. As for valuation, the analysts remarked, “While trends are generally improving (slowly), the stock is 17.5x our NTM estimates, which imply MSD EPS growth. This multiple is above its 5 year average premium relative to our US beverage group average.” Breaking news

• The weekly jobless claims were a bit better than expected, with new claims coming in at 472,000 versus expectations of 475,000. To read the full news, click here.
• Ross Stores, Inc. ROST today reported that sales increased 9% to $608 million for the four weeks ended August 28, 2010, up from $557 million for the four weeks ended August 29, 2009. To read the full news, click here.
• Alcatel-Lucent ALU has acquired OpenPlug for an undisclosed amount announced Wednesday. To read the full news, click here.
• UTi Worldwide Inc. UTIW announced on Thursday before the market opened that it beat consensus Wall Street estimates. To read the full news, click here.

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