A Peek Into The Market Before The Trading Starts

Pre-open movers US stock futures are lower this morning. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 23 points to 13,195.00 and S&P 500 index futures fell 2.50 points to 1,397.90. Nasdaq 100 futures declined 4.50 points to 2,714.00. A Peek Into Global Markets European markets were mixed today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index dropped 0.13%, French CAC 40 index rose 0.51%. London's FTSE 100 Index moved down 0.75% and German DAX 30 index gained 0.01%. Asian markets ended mostly higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rising 0.31%, China's Shanghai Composite gaining 1.76% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving up 0.17%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained 1.02% and India's Sensex dropped 0.27%. Broker Recommendation RBC Capital upgraded Masco Corporation MAS from “underperform” to “sector perform.” The target price for Masco has been raised from $15 to $16. Masco shares gained 5.69% to close at $13.93 yesterday. Breaking news

• Microchip Technology Incorporated MCHP and Standard Microsystems Corporation SMSC today announced that Microchip has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Standard Microsystems Corporation for $37.00 per share in cash, which represents a total equity value of about $939 million, and a total enterprise value of about $766 million, after excluding SMSC's cash and investments on its balance sheet of approximately $173 million. To read the full news, click here.
• Nu Skin Enterprises Inc NUS today announced that its board of directors has authorized a $250 million extension to the company's ongoing share repurchase authorization. To read the full news, click here.
• MagnaChip Semiconductor Corporation MX today announced that certain of its stockholders priced an underwritten registered public offering of 7,000,000 shares of MagnaChip's common stock at a price per share of $11.40. To read the full news, click here.
• Amerigroup Corp AGP reported a better-than-expected first-quarter profit. To read the full news, click here.