A Peek Into The Market Before The Trading Starts

Pre-open movers US stock futures are higher this morning, as investors are awaiting testimony from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 45 points to 12,693.00 and S&P 500 index futures rose 5.40 points to 1,352.80. Nasdaq 100 futures gained 11.50 points to 2,583.00. A Peek Into Global Markets European markets were mixed today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index declined 0.12%, London's FTSE 100 Index dropped 0.45%, French CAC 40 Index gained 0.48% and German DAX 30 index rose 0.28%. Asian markets ended higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rising 0.35%, China's Shanghai Composite gaining 0.62% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rising 0.77%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 1.75% India's Sensex rose 0.01%. Broker Recommendation Analysts at JPMorgan downgraded Deere & Company DE from “overweight” to “underweight.” The target price for Deere has been lowered from $98 to $78. Deere shares fell 0.90% to close at $76.78 yesterday. Breaking news

• Nabors Industries Ltd. NBR announced today that its Board of Directors has adopted a shareholder rights plan under which shareholders will receive rights to purchase shares of a new series of preferred stock. To read the full news, click here.
• Westinghouse Solar WEST today announced that Comtec Distributing has selected Westinghouse Solar as their exclusive supplier of solar power systems to support expansion of their line of energy efficiency products. To read the full news, click here.
• Fuel Tech FTEK today announced it was awarded the largest air pollution control contract in its history. To read the full news, click here.
• Wi-LAN WILN today announced that it has acquired a global portfolio of more than 40 patents and applications from Siemens AG related to telecommunication network management and mobile multimedia. To read the full news, click here.