A Peek Into The Market Before The Trading Starts

Pre-open movers US stock futures are lower this morning as investors are awaiting ADP jobs data. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 60 points to 11,559 and S&P 500 futures dropped 8 points to 1,257. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index fell 13 points at 2,233. A Peek Into Global Markets Negative sentiment ruled the European markets today. While STOXX Europe 600 Index has dropped 0.92%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved down 0.65%. Mostly Asian markets ended in the negative territory, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average losing 0.17%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving down 0.59% and China's Shanghai Composite dropping 0.50%. Broker Recommendation Jefferies is upgrading Webster Financial WBS to Buy from Hold and bumping EPS estimates to $1.15 from $1.10 in 2011. Jefferies is also raising its price target to $23 from $19. “WBS holds a solid loan loss reserve ratio (3.1% vs. 2.5% peer average), despite consistent improvements in underlying credit quality (losses and NPAs have declined every quarter this year),” Jefferies writes. “Accordingly, we believe reserve bleed will increase in 2011 and drive tangible book value meaningfully higher.” Webster Financial closed Tuesday at $19.53. Breaking news

• BJ's Wholesale Club, Inc. BJ today reported that sales for December 2010 increased by 7.3% to $1.25 billion from $1.16 billion in December 2009. To read the full news, click here.
• Zep Inc. ZEP, a leading producer, marketer, and service provider of a wide range of cleaning and maintenance solutions, today announced financial results for the first fiscal quarter ended November 30, 2010. Revenue for the first quarter increased approximately 24% to $157.4 million, compared with $126.8 million in the same period of the prior year. To read the full news, click here.
• Omeros Corporation OMER today announced that it has obtained an exclusive license from The Regents of the University of California to a new series of antifibrinolytic agents. To read the full news, click here.
• Qualcomm Incorporated QCOM and Atheros Communications, Inc. ATHR, today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement whereby Qualcomm intends to acquire Atheros, a leader in innovative technologies for wireless and wired local area connectivity in the computing, networking and consumer electronics industries. To read the full news, click here.

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