US Stock Futures Flat; Fed Minutes In Focus

Pre-open movers US stock futures traded mostly flat in early pre-market trade. Data on housing starts for October will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, while the Federal Open Market Committee will issue minutes of its latest meeting at 2:00 p.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 5 points to 17,647.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures fell 1 point to 2,047.60. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 1.50 points to 4,239.50. A Peek Into Global Markets European markets were mostly higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.01%, STOXX Europe 600 Index gaining 0.20%. German DAX 30 index jumped 0.38%, French CAC 40 Index climbed 0.26% and London's FTSE 100 Index dropped 0.12%. In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.32%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.66%, China's Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.22% and India's Sensex slipped 0.46%. Broker Recommendation Analysts at Bank of America upgraded PetSmart PETM from Underperform to Neutral and raised the price target from $55.00 to $80.00. PetSmart shares rose 0.01% to close at $73.62 yesterday. Breaking news

• Shares of Lowe's Companies LOW gained more than 3% in pre-market trading after the company reported better-than-expected third-quarter results and raised its sales forecast for the fiscal year 2014. To read the full news, click here.
• Staples SPLS reported a rise in its fiscal third-quarter earnings. To read the full news, click here.
• Colony Financial CLNY today announced that it has entered into definitive agreements to acquire Cobalt Capital Partners and its highly diversified portfolio of 256 primarily light industrial assets for approximately $1.6 billion. To read the full news, click here.
• Cempra CEMP today announced it has received authorization under its existing contract for the next phase of its contract with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) that will provide funding of $16.0 million for two clinical studies of solithromycin. To read the full news, click here.