US Stock Futures Up; ADP Report, Fed Decision In Focus

Pre-open movers US stock futures gained in early pre-market trade, ahead of the ADP jobs report. The ADP national employment report for October will be released at 8:15 a.m. ET, while the consumer price index for September will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The FOMC is scheduled to announce its policy decision at 2:00 p.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 49 points to 15,665.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures gained 4.60 points to 1,772.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index rose 14 points to 3,398.00. A Peek Into Global Markets European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index gaining 0.63%, London's FTSE 100 index rising 0.48% and STOXX Europe 600 Index climbing 0.55%. German DAX 30 index rose 0.40% and French CAC 40 Index climbed 0.50%. Germany jobless claims rose 2,000 in October from September. Asian markets ended higher today. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 1.23%, China's Shanghai Composite surged 1.48% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumped 2%. Australia's ASX/S&P500 rose 0.27% and India's Sensex jumped 0.50%. Japan's industrial production climbed by 1.5% in September. Broker Recommendation Analysts at Bank of America downgraded SanDisk SNDK from “buy” to “neutral.” The target price for SanDisk is set to $75. SanDisk's shares closed at $70.80 yesterday. Breaking news

• Wi-LAN WILN today announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a process to explore and evaluate a broad range of strategic alternatives for the Company to enhance shareholder value. To read the full news, click here.
• MannKind MNKD today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has acknowledged the resubmission of a New Drug Application (NDA) for AFREZZA® (insulin human [rDNA origin]) Inhalation Powder. To read the full news, click here.
• lululemon athletica LULU today announced that Tara Poseley has been appointed to its Senior Leadership Team as Chief Product Officer. To read the full news, click here.
• Nice Systems NICE reported a drop in its third-quarter profit. To read the full news, click here.