A Peek Into The Market Before The Trading Starts

Pre-open movers US stock futures are mixed this morning, as investors are awaiting a speech by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 7 points to 13,440.00 and S&P 500 index futures rose 1.30 points to 1,468.50. Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 9.75 points to 2,734.00. A Peek Into Global Markets European markets were higher today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index rose 0.05%, London's FTSE 100 Index gained 0.10%, German DAX 30 Index surged 0.50% and French CAC 40 Index rose 0.48%. Asian markets ended higher, with China's Shanghai Composite jumping 3.06% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index gaining 0.25%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 0.64% and India's Sensex surged 1.23%. Broker Recommendation Analysts at Deutsche Bank upgraded Facebook FB from “hold” to “buy.” The target price for Facebook has been raised from $24 to $40. Facebook shares gained 2.77% to $32.60 in pre-market trading. Breaking news

• Orange has signed a strategic partnership – on an exclusive basis – with Baidu BIDU, the Chinese internet company, to develop a co-branded internet browser for smartphone customers in Africa, the Middle East and Asia (AMEA). To read the full news, click here.
• Hologic HOLX today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared for marketing its APTIMA Trichomonas vaginalis Assay on the Company's fully-automated PANTHER System. To read the full news, click here.
• United Parcel Service UPS announced today the European Commission (EC) has informed UPS and TNT Express that it is working on a decision to prohibit the proposed acquisition of TNT Express. To read the full news, click here.
• Level 3 Communications BV, an affiliate of Level 3 Communications LVLT, today announced that the company has signed a contract with the NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCIA) to install and maintain an IP Virtual Private Network (VPN) to be used by the NATO-Russia Council Cooperative Airspace Initiative (NRC CAI). To read the full news, click here.