A Peek Into The Market Before The Trading Starts

Pre-open movers US stock futures are higher this morning. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 39 points to 12,155.00 and S&P 500 index futures rose 4.60 points to 1,309.80. Nasdaq 100 futures added 9.25 points to 2,317.75. A Peek Into Global Markets Positive sentiment ruled the European markets today. While STOXX Europe 600 Index has gained 0.13%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved up 0.30%. Asian markets ended higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average gaining 1.07%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving up 0.96% and China's Shanghai Composite rising 1.06%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 1.06% and India's Sensex climbed 2.53%. Broker Recommendation Analysts at RW Baird downgraded Research In Motion Limited RIMM from “neutral” to “underperform.” The target price for RIMM has been lowered from $60 to $47. RIMM shares dropped 12.15% to $56.30 in pre-market trading. Breaking news

• Hyperdynamics Corporation HDY today announced that its public offering of 25,000,000 shares of its common stock has priced at $5.00 per share for gross proceeds of approximately $125,000,000. To read the full news, click here.
• Western Gas Partners, LP WES today announced that it has entered into a new $800 million, five-year unsecured revolving credit facility with a group of lenders. To read the full news, click here.
• Brown-Forman Corporation BF BF announced that its Board of Directors has authorized the repurchase of up to $250 million of its outstanding Class A and Class B common shares through November 30, 2011, subject to market and other conditions. To read the full news, click here.
• Orange 21 Inc ORNG reported a 2010 consolidated net loss of $4.6 million, compared with a loss of $3.4 million in 2009. To read the full news, click here.

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