US Stock Futures Flat Ahead of Consumer Confidence, House Prices Data

Pre-open movers

US stock futures were flat in early pre-market trade on the last trading day for 2013. The S&P/Case-Shiller home price index for October will be released at 9:00 a.m. ET, while the Chicago PMI for December will be released at 9:45 a.m. ET. The Conference Board's consumer confidence index for December will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were flat at 16,439.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures gained 1.10 points to 1,835.80. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index rose 2 points to 3,567.75.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mostly lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.10%, London's FTSE 100 index gaining 0.32% and STOXX Europe 600 Index rising 0.23%. French CAC 40 Index gained 0.33%.

Asian markets ended higher today. China's Shanghai Composite surged 0.88% and India's BSE Sensex rose 0.13%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Benchmark downgraded Haemonetics (NYSE: HAE) from "buy" to "hold." The target price for Haemonetics has been lowered from $49 to $46.

Haemonetics shares closed at $42.54 yesterday.

Breaking news

NASDAQ OMX Group (Nasdaq: NDAQ) and Borsa Istanbul A.S. have today concluded a wide-ranging agreement, which includes the delivery of market-leading technologies and advisory services to Borsa Istanbul, and NASDAQ OMX taking an equity stake in Borsa Istanbul. To read the full news, click here. Acacia Research (NASDAQ: ACTG) announced today that its Bolt MRI Technologies LLC subsidiary has entered into an agreement with Fonar Corporation (NASDAQ: FONR). To read the full news, click here. Douglas Emmett, (NYSE: DEI) announced that William Kamer will be retiring from full time service as its Chief Investment Officer effective January 31, 2014. Mr. Kamer will continue to be employed by Douglas Emmett as a Senior Advisor. To read the full news, click here. Acacia Research (NASDAQ: ACTG) announced today that its Brandywine Communications Technologies LLC subsidiary has entered into a settlement and patent license agreement with Alcatel-Lucent USA (NYSE: ALU). To read the full news, click here.

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

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