A Peek Into The Market Before The Trading Starts

Pre-open movers US stock futures are higher this morning, as investors are awaiting earnings from Alcoa AA. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 32 points to 14,515.00 and S&P 500 index futures rose 4.30 points to 1,550.20. Nasdaq 100 futures gained 6 points to 2,769.50. A Peek Into Global Markets European markets were higher today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index rose 0.52%, London's FTSE 100 Index gained 0.36%, French CAC 40 Index rose 0.71% and German DAX 30 index gained 0.44%. Asian markets are mostly lower, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rising 2.80% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rising 0.29%%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.04% and India's Sensex dipped 0.05%. Broker Recommendation Analysts at Bank of America upgraded Novartis AG NVS from “underperform” to “neutral”. The target price for Novartis is set to $74.71. Novartis stock closed at $70.55 on Friday. Breaking news

• GE GE and Lufkin Industries Inc. LUFK announced todaya joint agreement whereby GE will acquire Lufkin Industries Inc., a leading provider of artificial lift technologies for the oil and gas industry and a manufacturer of industrial gears, for approximately $3.3 billion. Lufkin shareholders will receive $88.50 per share in cash for each of their Lufkin shares. To read the full news, click here.
• PROLOR Biotech, Inc. PBTH today announced that it received a notice of allowance from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for a new patent application covering the company's proprietary long-acting CTP-enhanced coagulation factors for the treatment of hemophilia: Factor VIIa-CTP, Factor Vll-CTP and Factor IX-CTP. To read the full news, click here.
• MEDNAX, Inc., MD today announced the acquisition of Neonatology Associates, Ltd. (NAL), a neonatal physician group practice based in Phoenix, Arizona. To read the full news, click here.
• Blackhawk Network Holdings, Inc., a majority-owned subsidiary of Safeway Inc. SWY, today announced that it is filing an amended registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with an initial public offering, or IPO, of 10,000,000 shares of Blackhawk's Class A common stock (with an additional 1,500,000 shares subject to the underwriters' option to purchase additional shares) at an estimated offering price of $20 to $22 per share. To read the full news, click here.