A Peek Into The Market Before The Trading Starts

Pre-open movers US stock futures are mixed this morning as investors are awaiting the key retail-sales data as well as the US Federal Open Market Committee's (FOMC) decision on monetary policy. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 3 points to 11,363, while the S&P 500 index futures gained 2.80 points at 1,239.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index moved up 4.25 points to 2,215. A Peek Into Global Markets Mixed sentiments ruled the European markets today. While STOXX Europe 600 Index has fallen 0.16%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved up 0.19%. Asian markets ended in the positive territory, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average adding 0.22%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving up 0.20% and China's Shanghai Composite gaining 0.14%. Broker Recommendation Sterne Agee is downgrading A.O. Smith Corp. AOC to Neutral from Buy. It has a $43 price target on shares. In a note sent to investors Sterne Agee writes, "We are downgrading AOS to Neutral from Buy as we believe that shares are likely to consolidate in the near term as AOS closes on the divestiture of its EPC business. Additionally, with the company receiving $700M in cash and $175M in stock, we believe that while the avenues for reinvestment of the proceeds appear robust, the timing of the redeployment remains uncertain. While management noted that there are plenty of markets for investment, particularly in water infrastructure in developed markets and water heating and treatment in overseas regions, we believe that multiple acquisitions will likely have to be accomplished over an extended period to account for the loss in earnings from the divestiture. Also, as shares are within 1% of our $43 price target, we believe at the current valuation the risk/reward is not as attractive given the uncertainty of timing for cash redeployment." Shares of AOS lost 52 cents yesterday to close at $42.55. Breaking news

• FactSet Research Systems Inc FDS reports its Q1 adjusted EPS at $0.85, beating the consensus of $0.84. To read the full news, click here.
• Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. JEC announced today that it received a contract to provide construction management services (CMS) for the Architect of the Capitol (AOC), the federal agency responsible for the maintenance, operation, development and preservation of the United States Capitol complex in Washington, D.C. To read the full news, click here.
• Compugen Ltd. CGEN announced today that administration of CGEN-15001 in an animal model of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) dramatically ameliorates the clinical symptoms of the disease. To read the full news, click here.
• The Buckle, Inc. BKE announced that at its quarterly meeting of the Board of Directors, held on December 13, 2010, the Board authorized a $0.20 per share quarterly dividend to be paid to shareholders of record at the close of business on January 14, 2011, with a payment date of January 27, 2011. To read the full news, click here.

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