A Peek Into The Market Before The Trading Starts

Pre-open movers US stock futures are lower this morning. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 89 points to 12,494.00 and S&P 500 index futures fell 9.20 points to 1,324.20. Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 19.50 points to 2,540.00.

A Peek Into Global Markets European markets were lower today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index declined 0.82%, London's FTSE 100 Index dropped 1.95%, French CAC 40 index fell 0.44% and German DAX 30 index dropped 1.54%.

Asian markets ended lower, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average dropping 0.28%, Chinese Shanghai Composite falling 0.21% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dropping 0.47%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index tumbled 1.92% and India's Sensex fell 0.77%.

Broker Recommendation Analysts at KeyBanc Capital upgraded Sanderson Farms Inc (NASDAQ: SAFM) from “hold” to “buy.” The target price for Sanderson Farms is set to $60.

Sanderson Farms shares fell 3.04% to close at $52.66 yesterday.

Breaking news

• Five Star Quality Care Inc (NYSE: FVE) today announced that it has agreed to settle its long running litigation with Sunrise Senior Living Inc (NYSE: SRZ) in return for a payment from Sunrise to Five Star of $4 million. To read the full news, click here.
• SkyWest Inc (NASDAQ: SKYW) announced today that it entered into an agreement on Wednesday, May 23, 2012, to sell its 26% ownership (20% common and 6% preferred) in the Brazilian airline Trip Linhas Aereas SA for a price of $42 million. To read the full news, click here.
• Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ: ALNY) announced today top-line results from a Phase IIb trial with ALN-RSV01 for the treatment of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection in lung transplant patients. To read the full newsclick here.
• Air Lease Corporation (NYSE: AL) announced today that it has entered into 12 year long term lease agreements with Air China for 13 new jet aircraft delivering in 2013 and 2014 which consist of nine (9) new Boeing 737-800s and four (4) new Airbus A321-200s. To read the full news, click here.