A Peek Into The Market Before The Trading Starts

Pre-open movers US stock futures are lower this morning, a day after strong rise in global equities. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 43 points to 12,125.00 and futures on the S&P 500 stock index fell 5.10 points to 1,277.50. Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 8.50 points to 2,385.25. A Peek Into Global Markets Asian markets ended higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average surging 1.3883%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving up 0.17% and China's Shanghai Composite gaining 1.55%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 1.6788% and India's Sensex gained 2.89%. European markets were mostly lower today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index has declined 0.08%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved down 0.25%, German DAX 30 index rose 0.41% and France CAC 40 index dropped 0.02%. Broker Recommendation Analysts at Piper Jaffray downgraded Nanometrics Incorporated NANO from “overweight” to “neutral.” The target price for Nanometrics has been lowered from $18 to $15. Nanometrics stock dropped 13.80% to $16.24 in after-hours trading. Breaking news

• Whirlpool Corp WHR lowered its 2011 earnings forecast. To read the full news, click here.
• E-House Holdings Limited EJ today announced it has submitted a non-binding proposal to the board of directors of China Real Estate Information Corporation CRIC to acquire through a merger all the outstanding shares of CRIC that are not owned by E-House. To read the full news, click here.
• Cigna Corp CI reported a decline in its third-quarter profit and lifted its full-year forecast. To read the full news, click here.
• Weyerhaeuser Co WY reported a decline in its third-quarter profit. To read the full news, click here.