A Peek Into The Market Before The Trading Starts

Pre-open movers US stock futures are higher this morning, as investors are awaiting quarterly earnings from major companies. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 68 points to 12,396.00 and futures on the S&P 500 stock index rose 8.30 points to 1,308.70. Nasdaq 100 futures gained 16.75 points to 2,356.75. A Peek Into Global Markets Asian markets ended mixed, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average dropping 0.8497%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving down 0.01% and China's Shanghai Composite dropping 0.65%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.4478% and India's Sensex gained 0.79%. European markets were higher today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index has gained 0.81%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved up 0.51%, German DAX 30 index rose 1.45% and France CAC 40 index rose 1.22%. Broker Recommendation Analysts at Jefferies & Company downgraded Almost Family Inc AFAM from “buy” to “hold.” The target price for Almost Family has been lowered from $45 to $29. Almost Family shares rose 1.14% to close at $25.77 yesterday. Breaking news

• Cisco Systems CSCO provided additional detail Monday about its plans to reduce its global workforce by 6,500 employees - part of an effort to save $1 billion in annual operating expenses. To read the full news, click here.
• Microsemi Corporation MSCC today announced it has acquired the millimeterwave technology and related assets of privately-held Brijot Imaging Systems. To read the full news, click here.
• Bank of America Corp BAC released its results for the second quarter on Tuesday. Bank of America posted a quarterly net loss of $8.8 billion, or $0.90 per share. To read the full news, click here.
• KeyCorp KEY released its results for the second quarter on Tuesday. KeyCorp's quarterly net income surged to $240 million, or $0.25 per share, from $70 million, or $0.03 per share, in the year-earlier period. To read the full news, click here.