A Peek Into The Market Before The Trading Starts

Pre-open movers US stock futures are mixed this morning, as investors are awaiting weekly jobless-claims data. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 6 points to 12,789 and S&P 500 index futures rose 2.25 points to 1,353.25. Nasdaq 100 futures declined 1.50 points to 2,618.

A Peek Into Global Markets European markets were lower today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index declined 0.20%, French CAC 40 index fell 0.99%. London's FTSE 100 Index moved down 0.27% and German DAX 30 index gained 0.11%.

Asian markets ended mixed, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average declining 0.39%, China's Shanghai Composite rising 0.07% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving up 0.50%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 0.51% and India's Sensex dropped 0.29%.

Broker Recommendation Macquarie downgraded Aon Corporation (NYSE: AON) from “outperform” to “neutral.” The target price for Aon has been lowered from $55 to $51.

Aon shares gained 0.21% to close at $48.09 yesterday.

Breaking news

• Centene Corporation (NYSE: CNC) announced today the Governor and Executive Council of New Hampshire have given approval for the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to contract with Granite State Health Plan, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Centene, to serve Medicaid beneficiaries in New Hampshire. To read the full news, click here.
• PSS World Medical Inc (NASDAQ: PSSI) announced today that its Board of Directors has approved a strategic restructuring plan designed to transform the Company, focusing its efforts and investments on what it believes will be the fastest growing segments of non-acute, alternate site healthcare in the U.S. To read the full news, click here.
• Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc (NASDAQ: ULTA) announced that on May 9, 2012 Ulta priced an underwritten public offering of 7,000,000 shares of its common stock held by certain entities associated with Mousse Partners, at a price to the public of $84.00 per share. To read the full news, click here.
• Sony Corp (NYSE: SNE) reported a net loss for the fiscal year. To read the full news, click here.

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