A Peek Into The Market Before The Trading Starts

Pre-open movers US stock futures are higher this morning, after upbeat Chinese growth data. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 75 points to 12,488.00 and futures on the S&P 500 stock index rose 9.10 points to 1,319.80. Nasdaq 100 futures gained 17.50 points to 2,362.00. A Peek Into Global Markets Asian markets ended higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average gaining 0.3833%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving up 0.43% and China's Shanghai Composite jumping 1.48%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index surged 1.2174% and India's Sensex rose 0.81%. European markets were higher today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index has gained 0.12%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved up 0.05%, German DAX 30 index rose 0.41% and France CAC 40 index gained 0.08%. Broker Recommendation Analysts at Robert W. Baird upgraded Marriot International Inc MAR from “neutral” to “outperform.” The target price for Marriot has been raised from $40 to $44. Marriot shares gained 0.96% to close at $36.82 yesterday. Breaking news

• Northgate Minerals Corporation NXG and Primero Mining Corp. announce today that they have entered into a definitive arrangement agreement to combine their respective businesses and create a new, leading mid-tier gold producer with significant value creation opportunities. To read the full news, click here.
• Forest City Enterprises FCE FCE today announced its intention to offer, subject to market and other conditions, $250 million aggregate principal amount of convertible senior notes due 2018. To read the full news, click here.
• Genesis Energy, L.P. GEL announced today that it will pay a regular quarterly distribution of $0.415 per Common Unit for the quarter ended June 30, 2011. To read the full news, click here.
• ASLAN Pharmaceuticals Pte Ltd and Array BioPharma Inc. ARRY today announced a license agreement to develop Array's HER2 / EGFR inhibitor, ARRY-543, currently entering Phase 2 development for solid tumors. To read the full news, click here.