A Peek Into The Market Before The Trading Starts

Pre-open movers US stock futures are lower this morning, as investors are awaiting payrolls figures. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 33 points to 12,205.00 and futures on the S&P 500 stock index fell 4 points to 1,308.40. Nasdaq 100 futures declined 8.50 points to 2,317.50. A Peek Into Global Markets Most Asian markets ended lower, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average dipping 0.66%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving down 0.35% and China's Shanghai Composite gaining 0.84%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 1.31% and India's Sensex dropped 0.60%. European markets were mixed today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index has dropped 0.43%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved up 0.04%. Broker Recommendation Analysts at FBR Capital upgraded Noble Corporation NE from “market perform” to “outperform.” The target price for Noble has been raised from $48 to $55. Noble shares gained 0.22% to $40.51 in after-hours trading. Breaking news

• The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced Thursday that it reached an agreement to sell to Fiat Treasury's 6% stake in Chrysler Group LLC and Treasury's interest in an agreement with the UAW retiree trust. To read the full news, click here.
• Arch Coal, Inc. ACI today announced its public offering of 48.0 million shares of common stock has priced at a public offering price of $27 per share for gross proceeds of approximately $1.3 billion. To read the full news, click here.
• Smithfield Foods, Inc. SFD announced today that it has terminated negotiations with respect to its proposed joint delisting takeover bid, together with Mr. Pedro Ballve, to acquire the remaining shares of Campofrio Food Group, S.A. To read the full news, click here.
• Newell Rubbermaid Inc NWL lowered its 2011 projections on Friday. Newell Rubbermaid now expects 2011 core sales growth in the range of 3% to 4%. To read the full news, click here.

Read more from Benzinga's Markets.