A Peek Into The Market Before The Trading Starts

Pre-open movers US stock futures are mostly flat this morning. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 2 points to 13,249.00 and S&P 500 index futures rose 1.10 points to 1,416.30. Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 2.25 points to 2,778.25. A Peek Into Global Markets European markets were mixed today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index rose 0.02%, London's FTSE 100 Index dropped 0.19%, French CAC 40 Index fell 0.01% and German DAX 30 index rose 0.39%. Asian markets ended mostly lower, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rising 0.09%, China's Shanghai Composite falling 0.38% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dropping 0.04%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index declined 0.06%. Broker Recommendation Analysts at RBC Capital downgraded Public Storage PSA from “sector perform” to “underperform.” The target price for Public Storage has been raised from $134 to $139. Public Storage shares gained 0.30% to close at $145.39 on Friday. Breaking news

• Meta Financial Group CASH today announced that it entered into separate purchase agreements on August 16, 2012, under which the Company has agreed to sell to investors an aggregate of approximately 1,560,000 shares of the Company's common stock, for total consideration of approximately $34.2 million, or $21.91 per share. To read the full news, click here.
• Chevron CVX today announced that its Australian subsidiary has reached an agreement to exchange its holdings in the Browse development for Shell Development (Australia) Pty Ltd's interests in the Clio and Acme fields1 in the Carnarvon Basin offshore northwest Australia. To read the full news, click here.
• Level 3 Communications LVLT today announced that it has added new advanced data centre facility space in Hayes, West London. To read the full news, click here.
• ChipMOS TECHNOLOGIES IMOS today announced it would effect a new US$10 million share repurchase program in compliance with Rule 10b5-1 and Rule 10b-18 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. To read the full news, click here.