A Peek Into The Market Before The Trading Starts

Pre-open movers US stock futures are lower this morning, after the global equity markets plunged over growth fears. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 191 points to 10,826.00 and S&P 500 index futures fell 22.50 points to 1,121.00. Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 42.25 points to 2,039.75.

A Peek Into Global Markets European markets were lower today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index dropped 2.96%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved down 2.32%, French CAC 40 index fell 3.36% and German DAX 30 index dropped 3.95%.

Asian markets ended lower, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average dropping 2.4477%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving down 3.41% and China's Shanghai Composite dropping 0.98%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 3.0793% and India's Sensex dipped 1.99%.

Broker Recommendation Analysts at Robert W. Baird downgraded Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE: HPQ) from “outperform” to “neutral.” The target price for Hewlett-Packard has been lowered from $51 to $30.

Hewlett-Packard shares dipped 10.88% to $26.30 in pre-market trading.

Breaking news

• Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) is considering a cut to its workforce of 3,500 jobs, with the possibility of more, according to a report Friday from the Wall Street Journal. To read the full news, click here.
• Optibase Ltd. (NASDAQ: OBAS) today announced the dismissal by the Tel-Aviv District Court of the lawsuit filed against the Company by Vsoft Ltd., or Vsoft, a company that is undergoing liquidation proceedings. To read the full news, click here.
• Sykes Enterprises, Incorporated (NASDAQ: SYKE) announced today that its Board of Directors has authorized the repurchase of up to 5 million shares of its outstanding common stock to be obtained either in the open market or through privately negotiated purchases. To read the full news, click here.
• Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S) is rumored to be in talks with cable companies including Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) and Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) about a possible investment that may lead to an acquisition of Clearwire (NASDAQ: CLWR), according to sources. To read the full news, click here.