A Peek Into The Market Before The Trading Starts

Pre-open movers
US stock futures are lower this morning. Investors are awaiting comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 23 points to 12,173, while those for the S&P 500 index declined 4.2 points to 1,318. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index fell 6.50 points to 2,356.

A Peek Into Global Markets

Negative sentiment ruled the European markets today. While STOXX Europe 600 Index has dropped 0.15%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved down 0.24%.

Most Asian markets ended lower, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average dropping 0.17% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving up 0.24%.

Broker Recommendation
Jefferies is out with its report today on Novatel (NASDAQ: NVTL), downgrading, NVTL from Buy to Hold.

In a note to clients, Jefferies writes, "Our downgrade is due to: 1) Asia OEMs launched LTE modems sooner than expected, 2) Mobile hotspot functionality is being integrated into smartphones, 3) weak Q1 guidance by Sierra Wireless (NASDAQ: SWIR) and Smith Micro (NASDAQ: SMSI). We now see the risk/reward as balanced."

Jefferies lowers its PT on NVTL from $13.50 to $8.50.

Shares of NVTL closed yesterday at $7.39, up 1.37% from Tuesday's close.

Breaking news

• Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) reported earnings today with EPS at $0.72 versus the Street consensus of $0.72. Revenues came in at $10.5B versus the $10.2B Street estimates. To read the full news, click here.
• Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corporation (NYSE: BAH), the parent company of consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., today announced preliminary results for the third quarter of fiscal 2011 with double-digit revenue growth and significant earnings growth over the prior year period. To read the full news, click here.
• The Jones Group Inc. (NYSE: JNY) today reported results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2010. Revenues for the fourth quarter of 2010 were $874 million, as compared with $777 million for the fourth quarter of 2009. To read the full news, click here.
• Agrium Inc. (NYSE: AGU) announced today net earnings of $158-million ($1.00 diluted earnings per share) for the fourth quarter of 2010, compared with the net earnings of $30-million in the fourth quarter of 2009 ($0.19 diluted earnings per share). To read the full news, click here.

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