A Peek Into The Market Before The Trading Starts

Pre-open movers US stock futures are higher this morning, as investors are awaiting earnings reports from several companies and the start of the Federal Open Market Committee's meeting. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 24 points to 12,451.00 and S&P 500 index futures rose 4.40 points to 1,335.20. Futures on the Nasdaq 100 surged 7.50 points to 2,385.00. A Peek Into Global Markets European markets were higher today. While STOXX Europe 600 Index has gained 0.13%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved up 0.32%. Asian markets ended lower, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average dropping 1.17% and China's Shanghai Composite dropping 0.88%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.54% and India's Sensex lost 0.20%. Broker Recommendation Analysts at Piper Jaffray upgraded Johnson Controls JCI from “neutral” to “overweight.” The target price for JCI has been raised from $46 to $47. JCI's shares closed at $39.60 yesterday. Breaking news

• Ford Motor Co F reported its results for the first quarter on Tuesday. The company's Q1 earnings came in at $2.6 billion. To read the full news, click here.
• Chesapeake Energy Corporation CHK announced today that it, through a new wholly owned subsidiary, Nomac Acquisition, Inc., is commencing a cash tender offer to purchase all outstanding shares of common stock of Bronco Drilling Company, Inc. BRNC. To read the full news, click here.
• Celanese Corporation CE today reported first quarter 2011 net sales of $1,589 million, a 14 percent increase from the prior year period, driven by higher pricing across all operating segments as well as improved volumes. To read the full news, click here.
• Hershey Co HSY released its results for the first quarter on Tuesday. HSY's net income increased to $160.1 million, or $0.70 per share, from $147.4 million, or $0.64 per share, in the year-ago quarter. To read the full news, click here.

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