A Peek Into The Market Before The Trading Starts

Pre-open movers US stock futures moved up today as investor confidence got a boost from better-than-estimated profits at Morgan Stanley MS and Wells Fargo & Co WFC. While futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added 0.4% to 1,084.5 at 8:06 a.m. in New York, those on the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.4% to 10,216. Meanwhile, Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 15.5 points. A Peek Into Global Markets Positive sentiments ruled the European markets, with STOXX Europe 600 Index advancing 2.02% and London’s FTSE 100 Index moved up 2.01%. Most Asian markets ended in the positive territory as steel stocks rallied on news of China trying to consolidate its local industry. However, Japanese shares fell on strong yen. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average shed 0.2% and Taiwan's Taiex lost 0.1%. Meanwhile, South Korea's Kospi added 0.7% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moved up 0.2%. Broker Recommendation JP Morgan raised its price target for Apple AAPL to $400 from $390, while maintaining its “overweight” rating on the company. JP Morgan expects continued market momentum for AAPL’s Mac, iPhone and iPad devices. The investment firm believes that AAPL’s shares should trade as a high growth story, rather than as a value stock. Breaking news

• AT&T T Government Solutions* business unit announced it has won a task order worth up to $350 million to provide Managed Security Services and deploy a Virtual Private Network (VPN) for the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Data Services. To read the full news, click here.
• Stanley Black & Decker Inc SWK announced on Wednesday morning that it far surpassed consensus Wall Street estimates. SWK reported that its 2nd quarter net income fell to $45.8 million, or 28 cents per share, down from $70.8 million, or 87 cents per share, a year earlier. To read the full news, click here.
• Roche Holding AG’s RHHBY top selling cancer drug Avastin may lose $1 billion in annual revenue if U.S. regulators revoke approval of the drug for use in breast cancer after a panel voted 12-1 yesterday to rescind it in a Bloomberg article. To read the full news, click here.

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