A Peek Into The Market Before The Trading Starts

Pre-open movers US stock futures gained strength on bullish results by US firms and jobless claims. While futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 58 points, those on the Standard & Poor's 500 added 8.40 points. Meanwhile, Nasdaq Composite futures climbed 10.75 points. A Peek Into Global Markets Positive sentiments ruled the European markets, with STOXX Europe 600 Index advancing 0.51% and London’s FTSE 100 Index moved up 0.74%. Asian markets were mixed today, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average losing 0.59%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving down 0.13% and China's Shanghai Composite gaining 0.55%. Broker Recommendation Standpoint Research downgrades AstraZeneca AZN from “buy” to “hold.” Standpoint Research says, "There is still value here and our price target remains $60 for 2011-2012, but we can no longer leave our highest rating attached to this name. AZN will hit a three-year high today and is ahead of the S&P-500 by 2000 bps since late May. To read the full report, click here. Breaking news

• Motorola Inc MOT announced that its profit for the second quarter rose sharply, exceeding the consensus, despite flattish revenue. To read the full news, click here.
• DayStar Technologies, Inc. DSTI has entered into Purchase Agreements with several different investors to provide the company with money to further continue operations. To read the full news, click here.
• RadioShack Corp RSH reports its Q2 EPS at $0.41, in-line with the consensus of $0.41. RSH reports its Q2 revenue at $1.01 billion versus the Street view of $1.02 billion. To read the full news, click here.
• BP BP, Europe's largest oil company by production volume, may sell its interest in three Venezuela oil projects to the company's TNK-BP Holding, BP's Russian venture. To read the full news, click here.

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