A Peek Into The Market Before The Trading Starts

Pre-open movers US stock futures are higher this morning, as the traders are awaiting the jobs and housing data as well as the summit of European leaders to begin in Brussels. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 8 points to 11,423 and S&P 500 futures rose 1.30 points at 1,233.40. Nasdaq 100 futures gained 3.50 points to 2,204.75. A Peek Into Global Markets Mixed sentiments ruled the European markets today. While STOXX Europe 600 Index has gained 0.02%, London's FTSE 100 Index fell 0.08%. Asian markets ended in the mixed territory, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average adding 0.02%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving up 0.32% and China's Shanghai Composite losing 0.46%. Broker Recommendation J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. has an Overweight rating and a $56 price target on shares of Honeywell HON. In a note sent to investors, J.P. Morgan writes, "We come away from the HON guidance with no change to our thesis around the fundamental acceleration we see into 2011 and 2012. Our estimates remain unchanged, but now include a forex “hedge” with upside possible from better growth. We are not surprised by the pullback given recent outperformance and dislocated Street estimates, many of which we think were mis-modeled and need to move lower out of the call – but, there is little change to our fundamental view. All in, we would look to add more aggressively to positions on an extended pullback." Shares of HON lost 99 cents yesterday to close at $51.54. Breaking news

• FedEx Corp. FDX today reported earnings of $0.89 per diluted share for the second quarter ended November 30. Excluding certain charges described below, second quarter earnings were $1.16 per diluted share, compared to $1.10 per diluted share a year ago. To read the full news, click here.
• World Fuel Services Corporation INT announced today that its wholly-owned subsidiary, World Fuel Services, Inc., has signed a definitive agreement to acquire The Hiller Group, Inc. and certain affiliates. To read the full news, click here.
• HP HPQ today announced that SHI International has selected HP Networking solutions as the network infrastructure for its new Infrastructure as a Service Cloud Center. To read the full news, click here.
• Forest City, Iowa-based Winnebago Industries, Inc. WGO on Thursday morning released financial results that easily beat Wall Street expectations. To read the full news, click here.

Read more from Benzinga's Markets.