A Peek Into The Market Before The Trading Starts

Pre-open movers US stock futures recorded gains on Friday, following the lower-than-expected downward revision of economic growth for the second quarter. Investors are now awaiting the speech to be made by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke later in the day. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 62 points to 10,029, those on the S&P 500 rose 7.70 points to 1,053 and the Nasdaq futures 15.25 points to 1,783. A Peek Into Global Markets Positive sentiments ruled the European markets today. While STOXX Europe 600 Index has advanced 0.39%, London’s FTSE 100 Index moved up 0.46%. Most of the Asian markets ended in the positive territory, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average adding 0.95%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving up 0.33% and China's Shanghai Composite gaining 0.28%. Broker Recommendation Piper Jaffray is maintaining its Neutral stance and $5.75 price target on shares of Novell, Inc. NOVL after the company reported earnings yesterday after the bell. Based on the bank's target price, there is slightly more than 2% upside to shares. In a note to clients, Piper Jaffray writes, "Q3 results were inline with the downside preannouncement: revenue down 8% y/y, EPS down 12% y/y. Due to ongoing customer uncertainty stemming from NOVL's ongoing review of various alternatives to enhance stockholder value, NOVL did not provide guidance. We are essentially maintaining forecasts and continue to believe that the emerging VMware relationship is the most interesting recent development to help offset the decay of the Microsoft partnership. Maintain Neutral, expect volatility due to ongoing review process." Shares of Novell closed at $5.64 yesterday, a loss of 7 cents. Breaking news

• Japan PM Kan: Will decide on measures on economic stimulus, strong yen on August 31 Australian Opposition leader Abbott: Does not want fresh election. To read the full news, click here.
• Dell DELL just announced that it was raising its bid on 3PAR PAR to $27 per share, matching Hewlett-Packard's HPQ deal. To read the full news, click here.
• October gold was higher overnight as it extends the rally off July's low. To read the full news, click here.
• GDP report came out and it beat expectations. To read the full news, click here.

Read more from Benzinga's Markets.