A Peek Into The Market Before The Trading Starts

Pre-open movers US stock futures are higher this morning, ahead of July nonfarm payrolls data. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 95 points to 12,926.00 and S&P 500 index futures rose 11.70 points to 1,373.60. Nasdaq 100 futures gained 24.50 points to 2,643.00.

A Peek Into Global Markets European markets were higher today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index rose 1.46%, French CAC 40 index rose 2.41%. London's FTSE 100 Index moved up 1.39% and German DAX 30 index gained 2.09%.

Asian markets ended mostly lower, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average dropping 1.13%, China's Shanghai Composite rising 1.02% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving down 1.10%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped 0.12% and India's Sensex fell 0.15%.

Broker Recommendation Analysts at RW Baird downgraded Nordstrom (NYSE: JWN) from “outperform” to “neutral.” The target price for Nordstrom has been lowered from $62 to $59.

Nordstrom shares gained 0.43% to close at $53.31 yesterday.

Breaking news

• Rosetta Genomics Ltd (NASDAQ: ROSG) today announced the pricing of an underwritten public offering of 5,500,000 ordinary shares at a public offering price of $5.00 per share. To read the full news, click here.
• Agrium (NYSE: AGU) announced today that it has reached an agreement for Glencore International plc to sell Viterra's minority position in a nitrogen facility located in Medicine Hat, Alberta to CF Industries Holdings, Inc. for $915-million. To read the full news, click here.
• Synopsys (NASDAQ: SNPS), through its Taiwan subsidiary, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire SpringSoft (TAIEX:2473), a global supplier of specialized IC design software headquartered in Hsinchu, Taiwan. To read the full news, click here.
• Epam Systems (NYSE: EPAM) reported a better-than-expected second-quarter profit and issued upbeat adjusted profit forecast for the current quarter. To read the full news, click here.