US Stock Futures Up Ahead Of Wholesale Trade Data

Pre-open movers US stock futures rose in early pre-market trade. The NFIB small-business optimism index for November will be released at 7:30 a.m. ET, while data on wholesale trade for October will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 16 points to 16,042.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 1.80 points to 1,810.80. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 4.25 points to 3,522.75. A Peek Into Global Markets European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.58%, London's FTSE 100 index gaining 0.18% and STOXX Europe 600 Index rising 0.20%. German DAX 30 index gained 0.20% and French CAC 40 Index rose 0.01%. French industrial production declined 0.3% in October versus September. Asian markets ended lower today. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average declined 0.25%, China's Shanghai Composite dropped 0.03%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.28% and India's BSE Sensex tumbled 0.33%. China's industrial output climbed 10% y/y for November, versus a 10.3% gain in the previous month. The country's retail sales surged 13.7% y/y, compared to October's 13.3% increase. Broker Recommendation Analysts at Bank of America downgraded Quest Diagnostics DGX from “buy” to “underperform.” The target price for Quest Diagnostics has been lowered from $64 to $55. Quest Diagnostics' shares closed at $60.33 yesterday. Breaking news

• Toll Brothers TOL reported a drop in its fourth-quarter profit. Toll Brothers' quarterly profit declined to $94.9 million, or $0.54 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $411.4 million, or $2.35 per share. To read the full news, click here.
• lululemon athletica LULU today announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Laurent Potdevin as the company's Chief Executive Officer and a member of its Board of Directors. Mr. Potdevin will succeed Christine Day, who has served as the company's CEO since 2008 and who announced her intention to resign in June 2013. To read the full news, click here.
• Cell Therapeutics CTIC today announced promising interim results from an investigator-initiated Phase 2 clinical trial of tosedostat in combination with cytarabine or decitabine in newly diagnosed older patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) or high-risk myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). To read the full news, click here.
• Trunkbow International Holdings TBOW today announced that it has entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger with Trunkbow Merger Group, a business company with limited liability incorporated under the laws of the British Virgin Islands and wholly owned by Dr. Wanchun Hou, chairman of our board of directors, and Mr. Qiang Li, our chief executive officer and director, and Trunkbow International Merger Sub Limited, a Nevada corporation and a wholly owned, direct subsidiary of Parent, pursuant to which Parent will acquire the Company for US$1.46 per share of the Company's common stock without interest. To read the full news, click here.