A Peek Into The Market Before The Trading Starts

Pre-open movers US stock futures are higher, this morning rose as investors awaited economic data. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 45.00 points to 11,278, while S&P 500 index futures gained 5.10 points to 1,210. Nasdaq 100 futures surged 12.50 points to 2,171. A Peek Into Global Markets Positive sentiments ruled the European markets today. While STOXX Europe 600 Index has advanced 0.60%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved up 0.86%. Asian markets ended in the positive territory, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average adding 1.81%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving up 1.82% and China's Shanghai Composite gaining 0.71%. Broker Recommendation Finisar Corp's FNSR 2QFY11 Revenues/adj. EPS of $241mln/$0.44 were inline/slightly better than 11-Nov pre-announce, which called for $240-241mln revenues/$0.41-$0.43 adj. EPS. 3QFY11 revenue guidance of $247-262mln also inline w/pre-announce, while $0.45-$0.47 EPS view is well ahead of consensus $0.41. Citi also believes that while FNSR gained share in the quarter, the company's strong results also likely reflect overall solid industry demand. In our view, solid FNSR results provide yet another data point supportive of our optimistic view on the optical cycle heading into 2011. Citi's estimates move higher across the board & target price now $22, based on revised estimates and ~11.5x target P/E multiple, essentially inline with current valuation. Acknowledging solid results & mgt. execution, Citi maintains its Hold/Speculative rating. Shares have massively outperformed peers, but Citi believes that valuation may be capped at/around current levels given significant financial outperformance vs. customers/end-markets & rich valuation vs. comps. FNSR closed Wednesday at $19.77 Breaking news

• PepsiCo PEP and Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods OJSC WBD earlier today announced that PepsiCo has agreed to acquire 66% of Wimm-Bill-Dann for $3.8 billion, pending the required government approvals. To read the full news, click here.
• Limited Brands, Inc. LTD reported a comparable store sales increase of 10 percent for the four weeks ended Nov. 27, 2010, compared to the four weeks ended Nov. 28, 2009. To read the full news, click here.
• The Cato Corporation CATO today reported sales for the four weeks ended November 27, 2010 of $65.8 million, an increase of 7% over sales of $61.6 million for the four week period ended November 28, 2009. To read the full news, click here.
• Merck & Co., Inc., MRK and SmartCells, Inc., today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Merck will acquire SmartCells, a private company developing a glucose responsive insulin formulation for the treatment of diabetes mellitus. To read the full news, click here.

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