A Peek Into The Market Before The Trading Starts

Pre-open movers
US stock futures are higher this morning, after the prior session's rally. Oil futures dropped to $104.82 a barrel. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 37 points to 12,236.00 and futures on the S&P 500 stock index gained 3.90 points to 1,324.00. Nasdaq 100 futures rose 5 points to 2,338.75.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mixed today. While STOXX Europe 600 Index has gained 0.38%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved down 0.21%.

Most Asian markets ended in the positive territory, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average gaining 0.61%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving down 0.80% and China's Shanghai Composite rising 0.08%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.42% and India's Sensex gained 0.16%.

Broker Recommendation
Piper Jaffray has upgraded MoneyGram International MGI from “underweight” to “neutral” and has raised the price target from $2.50 to $3.50.

MGI shares jumped 13.81% to close at $3.05 yesterday.

Breaking news

• Eastman Kodak Company EK today announced its intention to offer, subject to market and other conditions, $200 million aggregate principal amount of senior secured notes in a private placement to qualified institutional buyers pursuant to Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and outside the United States to persons other than U.S. persons in reliance upon Regulation S under the Securities Act. To read the full news, click here.



• Navistar International Corp NAV reported its Q1 EPS, ex-items, at $0.16, versus the consensus of $0.23. To read the full news, click here.



• Children's Place Retail Stores Inc PLCE reported its Q4 EPS at $1.22, versus the consensus of $1.01. To read the full news, click here.



• Descartes Systems Group DSGX reported its Q4 EPS at $0.12, versus the consensus of $0.12. To read the full news, click here.

Read more from Benzinga's Markets.