A Peek Into The Market Before The Trading Starts

Pre-open movers
US stock futures are lower this morning. Investors kept an eye on the ongoing Japan's nuclear crisis. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 29 points to 11,760.00 and futures for the S&P 500 index declined 3.90 points to 1,271.40. Nasdaq 100 futures fell 1.75 points to 2,243.25.

A Peek Into Global Markets

Negative sentiment ruled the European markets today. While STOXX Europe 600 Index has dropped 0.34%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved down 0.74%.

Asian markets ended higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average surging 5.68%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gaining 0.74%, China's Shanghai Composite rising 1.20% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rising 0.10%.

Broker Recommendation
Analysts at JMP Securities downgraded Apple Inc AAPL from “outperform” to “market perform.”

AAPL shares fell 2.30% to close at $345.43 yesterday.

Breaking news

• Beacon Power Corporation BCOND announced that Nasdaq has determined to continue the listing of the Company's securities on The Nasdaq Capital Market. To read the full news, click here.



• China Education Alliance, Inc. CEU announced today that it purchased 60% of the equity interests of Harbin Tianlang Culture and Education School for RMB35,000,000. To read the full news, click here.



• PDCO today announced that its board of directors has approved an increase in the quarterly cash dividend to $0.12 per share from $0.10 per share. To read the full news, click here.



• RAM Energy Resources, Inc. RAME today announced fourth quarter ended December 31, 2010 earnings and financial results. To read the full news, click here.

Read more from Benzinga's Markets.