A Peek Into The Market Before The Trading Starts

Pre-open movers US stock futures are higher this morning, as investors are awaiting quarterly results from Monsanto Co MON. Gold futures surged to a new high. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 68 points to 12,395.00, while those for the S&P 500 index rose 8.70 points to 1,335.40. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 20.50 points to 2,343.75. A Peek Into Global Markets Positive sentiment ruled the European markets today. While STOXX Europe 600 Index has gained 0.40%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved up 0.66%. Asian markets ended mixed, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average dropping 0.32%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving up 0.26% and China's Shanghai Composite gaining 1.15%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.56% and India's Sensex dropped 0.54%. Broker Recommendation Analysts at Canaccord upgraded Barclays PLC BCS from “hold” to “buy.” BCS shares gained 2.24% to $19.15 in pre-market trading. Breaking news

• Cisco Systems CSCO CEO John Chambers issued a memo to employees acknowledging that the company has flaws in "operational execution." To read the full news, click here.
• Rival to online coupon site Groupon, LivingSocial is far from the household name and valuation of its competition. It raised $400 million in a round of financing recently, though, as it appears investors are licking their chops at social companies. To read the full news, click here.
• Pluristem Therapeutics PSTI increases its testing of PLX Cells for the treatment of radiation exposure. To read the full news, click here.
• Dish Networks DISH wins the Blockbuster BLOAQ BLOBQ bankruptcy auction for $320M, beating Carl Icahn's bid of $310.6M. To read the full news, click here.

Read more from Benzinga's Markets.