A Peek Into The Market Before The Trading Starts

Pre-open movers US stock futures are higher this morning, as investors are awaiting payrolls data. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 49 points to 12,301.00 and futures on the S&P 500 stock index gained 5 points to 1,326.00. Nasdaq 100 futures added 11.75 points to 2,348.00. A Peek Into Global Markets Positive sentiment ruled the European markets today. While STOXX Europe 600 Index has gained 0.75%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved up 0.82%. Most Asian markets ended higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average dropping 0.48%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving up 0.53% and China's Shanghai Composite gaining 1.35%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 1.17%. Broker Recommendation Analysts at Goldman downgraded Allstate Corporation ALL from “buy” to “neutral.” The target price for ALL has been lowered from $36 to $34. ALL shares fell 0.22% to close at $31.78 yesterday. Breaking news

• Nouriel Roubini, chairman of Roubini Global Economics, told CNBC on Friday that recapitalizing Irish banks would be a mistake if it interfered with its own financing concerns. To read the full news, click here.
• NASDAQ OMX NDAQ and IntercontinentalExchange ICE today announced that they have made a joint proposal to acquire NYSE Euronext NYX for $42.50 in cash and stock per NYSE Euronext share, or approximately $11.3 billion, based on the respective NASDAQ OMX and ICE closing share prices as of March 31, 2011. To read the full news, click here.
• MEDNAX, Inc., MD today announced the acquisition of three separate physician group practices based in San Antonio, TX and Miami, FL, as well as the expansion of new services in Topeka, KS. To read the full news, click here.
• Sino Clean Energy Inc. SCEI today announced the Company's unaudited financial results for the fourth quarter and full year of 2010. To read the full news, click here.

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