A Peek Into The Market Before The Trading Starts

Pre-open movers US stock futures are lower this morning, as investors are awaiting consumer confidence data and the minutes of the recent Federal Open Market Committee. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 49 points to 11,468.00 and S&P 500 index futures fell 6.30 points to 1,201.80. Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 6.50 points to 2,213.50. A Peek Into Global Markets European markets were mixed today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index rose 0.92%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved up 2.45%, French CAC 40 index fell 0.18% and German DAX 30 index dropped 0.58%. Asian markets ended mostly higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average surging 1.1586%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving up 0.18% and China's Shanghai Composite dropping 0.38%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 1.7068% and India's Sensex jumped 1.59%. Broker Recommendation Analysts at Citigroup downgraded American Eagle Outfitters Inc AEO from “buy” to “hold.” The target price for American Eagle is set to $12. American Eagle shares gained 5.01% to close at $10.89 yesterday. Breaking news

• ICON plc, ICLR today announced that it has been chosen by Bristol-Myers Squibb Company BMY as a preferred provider for full-service clinical pharmacology and exploratory clinical studies. To read the full news, click here.
• Starbucks Corporation SBUX today announced that Starbucks coffee K-Cup Portion Packs for the Keurig Single Cup Brewing system will be available throughout grocery stores and specialty retailers in the U.S. starting in November 2011. To read the full news, click here.
• Actuate Corporation BIRT today announced a global alliance with Larsen & Toubro Infotech Ltd. To read the full news, click here.
• Dollar General Corp DG reported a 3.4% rise in its FQ2 net income rose 3.4% and raised the low end of its earnings forecast for the full year. To read the full news, click here.