A Peek Into The Market Before The Trading Starts

Pre-open movers US stock futures are lower this morning, as investors are awaiting employment data. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 35 points to 11,336.00 and S&P 500 index futures fell 2.20 points to 1,196.50. Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 7.50 points to 2,202.00. A Peek Into Global Markets European markets were lower today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index dropped 1.41%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved down 2.39%, French CAC 40 index fell 0.42% and German DAX 30 index dropped 1.88%. Asian markets ended lower, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average dipping 3.7198%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving down 4.21% and China's Shanghai Composite declining 2.15%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 4.2888% and India's Sensex dipped 2.19%. Broker Recommendation Analysts at Jefferies & Company upgraded SunTrust Banks Inc STI from “hold” to “buy.” The target price for STI has been lowered from $32 to $30. SunTrust Banks shares dipped 6.02% to close at $21.84 yesterday. Breaking news

• Alere Inc. ALR announced earlier today that it will make a cash offer for the entire issued and to be issued ordinary share capital of Axis-Shield, whose shares are traded on the main market of the London Stock Exchange and on the Oslo Bors. To read the full news, click here.
• AES Corp AES reported a 21% rise in its second-quarter net profit. AES reported its quarterly net profit at $174 million, or $0.22 per share, up from $144 million, or $0.18 per share, in the year-ago period. To read the full news, click here.
• QIAGEN QGEN today announced it has completed its second U.S. submission of the therascreen KRAS RGQ PCR Kit for use as a companion diagnostic paired with Erbitux (cetuximab). To read the full news, click here.
• Proctor & Gamble Co PG reported a 15% rise in its FQ4 earnings. PG reported its quarterly earnings at $2.51 billion, or $0.84 per share, up from $2.19 billion, or $0.71 per share, in the year-earlier period. To read the full news, click here.