A Peek Into The Market Before The Trading Starts

Pre-open movers US stock futures are higher this morning, ahead of the US economic data. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 25 points to 11,322 and S&P 500 futures rose 4.60 points to 1,233. Nasdaq 100 futures moved up 6.25 points at 2,206. A Peek Into Global Markets Positive sentiments ruled the European markets today. While STOXX Europe 600 Index has gained 0.14%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved up 0.11%. Asian markets ended mixed, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average dropping 0.72%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving up 0.05% and China's Shanghai Composite gaining 1.07%. Broker Recommendation J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. is raising its price target on E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company DD to $53 from $51, and it has an Overweight rating on shares. In a note sent to investors J.P. Morgan writes, "We raise our 2011 EPS estimate from $3.40 to $3.55, and our 2012 EPS forecast from $3.80 to $4.00. We lift our 2011E price target from $51 to $53 to reflect our earnings revision. Should DuPont reach our 2011 EPS target and the shares sell at a multiple of 15x EPS, the stock would be worth $53, representing 9.7% growth, and supplemented by a 3.4% dividend yield." Shares of DD lost 56 cents yesterday to close at $48.32. Breaking news

• Shell RDS today announced an agreement to sell a group of gas fields in South Texas to OXY USA, Inc., a subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum Corp OXY., for approximately $1.8 billion, effective January 1, 2011. To read the full news, click here.
• Tomophase Corporation, developer of the non-invasive Optical Coherence Tomography Imaging System (OCTIS™) and other devices, announced today that it has received FDA 510(k) clearance to market OCTIS. To read the full news, click here.
• The aggregate market value of common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant as of April 1, 2010 (the last business day of the registrant's most recently completed second fiscal quarter) was approximately $96 million, based on the closing sale price of $13.09 per share of common stock as reported on the Nasdaq Stock Market. To read the full news, click here.
• MoneyGram International MGI today announced it will make an optional $75 million prepayment on its tranche B term loan under the senior secured credit facility. To read the full news, click here.

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