US Stock Futures Edge Higher Ahead of Home Sales Report

Pre-open movers

US stock futures gained in early pre-market trade. The NAR's pending home sales index for November will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET, while the Dallas Fed general business activity index for December will be released at 10:30 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 15 points to 16,436.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures gained 1.30 points to 1,837.80. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index rose 0.75 points to 3,571.00.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.16%, London's FTSE 100 index dropping 0.24% and STOXX Europe 600 Index dipping 0.13%. German DAX 30 index declined 0.14% and French CAC 40 Index dropped 0.02%. Italian manufacturing business confidence rose to 98.2 in December.

Asian markets ended mixed today. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.69%, China's Shanghai Composite dropped 0.18%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 0.01% and India's BSE Sensex fell 0.24%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Guggenheim downgraded The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) from "neutral" to "buy."

Disney's shares closed at $74.35 on Friday.

Breaking news

Vitran Corporation (NASDAQ: VTNC) announced today that it has entered into a definitive arrangement agreement with TransForce pursuant to which TransForce has agreed to acquire all of the outstanding common shares of Vitran not already owned by TransForce for US$6.50 in cash per share, in accordance with TransForce's prior proposal. To read the full news, click here. ReneSola (NYSE: SOL) today announced it signed a Memorandum of Intent (MOI) to sell three utility-scale projects in Western China, with a total capacity of 60MW, to Jiangsu Akcome Solar Science & Technology Co on December 30, 2013. To read the full news, click here. Cooper Tire & Rubber Company (NYSE: CTB) today announced it has terminated the merger agreement with Apollo Tyres (NSE:ApolloTYRE). To read the full news, click here. RedHill Biopharma (NASDAQ: RDHL) today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement with leading healthcare investor OrbiMed Israel Partners Limited Partnership, an affiliate of OrbiMed Advisors LLC, for the sale of RedHill's American Depository Shares and warrants in a private placement transactionor a total sum of $6.0 million. To read the full news, click here.

Posted-In: Guggenheim US Stock FuturesNews Eurozone Futures Global Pre-Market Outlook Markets

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