A Peek Into The Market At The Start Of The Trading

Pre-open US stock futures fell today on investor concerns regarding jobless claims and the durable-goods data. While futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 56 points to 10183, those on the S&P 500 lost 5.5 points to 1081.9. Meanwhile, Nasdaq 100 futures declined 14.75 points to 1859. A Peek Into the Global Markets All European markets are in the red today, after the Fed used downbeat language on economic growth yesterday, when it addressed the nation. While the Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.7%, the FTSE 100 Index slipped 0.8% in early market trading. The major Asian bourses closed lower today, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipping 0.59% and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 declining 0.12%. However, Japan's Nikkei stock average ended up 0.05%. Broker Recommendation UBS moved up the rating of used-car dealer CarMax KMX from “neutral” to “buy.” The investment firm said that sales of used car are likely to continue to improve and a shift in KMX’s focus to store growth would boost the company’s earnings. While raising its earnings estimates for the company for 2010-2013, UBS said that the increase was primarily driven by higher-than-anticipated income in the consumer auto financing segment and better used vehicle pricing. Breaking news

• eBay EBAY has announced the acquisition of RedLaser, an iPhone application for nifty barcode scanning, and the associated technology from Occipital. EBAY has not disclosed the terms of the deal. To read the full story, click here.
• The Wall Street Journal quoted unidentified sources as saying that Providence Equity Partners has held buyout talks with Hasbro Inc HAS, one of the world's largest toymakers. The sources familiar with the matter said that Providence wants to take HAS private in a leveraged buyout. To read the full story, click here.
• Bed Bath & Beyond BBBY released their quarterly earnings this afternoon after the closing bell. The company reported first quarter net earnings of $137.6 million or $0.52 per share compared to $87.2 million or $0.34 per share in the year ago period. To read the full story, click here.
• Nike NKE released their quarterly earnings this afternoon after the closing bell. The company reported EPS of $1.06 per share compared to $0.70 in the year ago period. This was in line with analysts' estimates of $1.06 per share. To read the full story, click here.