A Peek Into The Market Before The Trading Starts

Pre-open movers US stock futures are flat this morning, as investors are awaiting data on jobless claims and first-quarter economic growth. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 18 points to 12,369.00 and futures on the S&P 500 stock index rose 1.90 points to 1,318.50. Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.50 point to 2,309.00. A Peek Into Global Markets Most Asian markets ended higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average surging 1.48%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving up 1.58% and China's Shanghai Composite declining 0.19%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.67% and India's Sensex jumped 1.06%. European markets were mixed today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index has dropped 0.08%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved up 0.39%. Broker Recommendation Analysts at FBR Capital upgraded American Eagle Outfitters Inc AEO from “market perform” to “outperform.” The target price for AEO is set to $17. AEO shares gained 2.07% to $13.29 in pre-market trading. Breaking news

• Big Lots Inc BIG reported a 6% decline in its fiscal first-quarter profit and lowered its earnings guidance for the year on Thursday. To read the full news, click here.
• Private Media Group, Inc.PRVT today announced that on May 19, 2011, the Company received a letter from The NASDAQ Stock Market stating that because the Company failed to file its Form 10-Q for the period ended March 31, 2011, on or before its due date. To read the full news, click here.
• H.J. Heinz Co HNZ released its results for the fourth-quarter on Thursday. Heinz reported its fourth-quarter profit at $223.9 million, or $0.70 per share, up from $192.4 million, or $0.61 per share, in the year-earlier period. To read the full news,