A Peek Into The Market Before The Trading Starts

Pre-open movers US stock futures are higher this morning, as investors are awaiting earnings reports. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 63 points to 12,570.00 and futures on the S&P 500 stock index rose 7.40 points to 1,328.70. Nasdaq 100 futures gained 7.00 points to 2,388.75. A Peek Into Global Markets Asian markets ended mixed, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average gaining 0.0224%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving up 0.17% and China's Shanghai Composite dropping 1.01%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.0745% and India's Sensex dropped 0.36%. European markets were lower today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index has declined 0.28%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved down 0.20%, German DAX 30 index fell 0.57% and France CAC 40 index dropped 0.45%.

Broker Recommendation Analysts at Robert W. Baird upgraded Robert Half International Inc (NYSE: RHI) from “neutral” to “outperform.” The target price for Robert Half is set to $35.

Robert Half shares surged 9.45% to $28.26 in after-hours trading.

Breaking news

• Pharmacy benefit management company Express Scripts (NASDAQ: ESRX) has agreed to buy competitor Medco Health Solutions (NYSE: MHS) for $29.1 billion, making it one of the largest M&A deals of the year. To read the full news, click here.
• Eli Lilly & Co (NYSE: LLY) reported an 11% decline in its second-quarter earnings. LLY's quarterly net income dropped to $1.20 billion, or $1.07 per share, from $1.35 billion, or $1.22 per share, in the year-ago period. To read the full news, click here.
• PepsiCo Inc (NYSE: PEP) reported an 18% rise in its second-quarter profit. PEP's quarterly profit surged to $1.89 billion, or $1.17 per share, from $1.6 billion, or $0.98 per share, in the year-earlier period. To read the full news, click here.
• Philip Morris International Inc (NYSE: PM) reported a 22% rise in its second-quarter net income. Philip Morris reported its quarterly earnings at $2.41 billion, or $1.35 per share, up from $1.98 billion, or $1.07 per share, in the year-ago quarter. To read the full news, click here.