A Peek Into The Market Before The Trading Starts

Pre-open movers US stock futures are higher this morning as investors are awaiting economic data, including personal income and pending home sales. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 15 points to 12,125.00. Futures on the S&P 500 stock index rose 0.50 point to 1,319 and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 3.25 points to 2,349. A Peek Into Global Markets European markets were mixed today. While STOXX Europe 600 Index has gained 0.17%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved down 0.36%. Most Asian markets ended higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average gaining 0.93%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dropping 0.03% and China's Shanghai Composite gaining 0.92%. Broker Recommendation Jefferies & Co. is upgrading shares of Humana HUM to Buy, and is raising its price target to $74 from $65. Shares of Humana closed at $62.60 on Friday, a loss of 12 cents or 0.2%. Breaking news

• Blackstone BX, the private equity firm, will acquire the U.S. assets of Australia-based Centro, the debt-heavy shopping mall operator, for $9.4 billion. To read the full news, click here.
• AES Corp AES reports its Q4 adjusted EPS at $0.23, versus the consensus of $0.25. To read the full news, click here.
• ConocoPhillips COP, the third-largest U.S. oil company, and Australia's Origin Energy could make a decision on whether to move forward with their proposed $18 billion liquefied natural gas plant in Australia as soon as May, Bloomberg News reported, citing a company executive. To read the full news, click here.
• 51job Inc JOBS reports its Q4 adjusted EPS at $0.38, beating the consensus of $0.30. To read the full news, click here.

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