U.S. PRE-MARKET INDICATORS
-Dow Jones Industrial futures up 15 points.
-S&P 500 futures up 3.5 points.
-Nasdaq 100 futures up 9 points.
-Nasdaq Pre-Market Indicator up 9.13 at 2,352.05
GLOBAL SENTIMENT
Nikkei up 0.1%
Hang Seng up 1.5%
Shanghai Composite up 1.3%
FTSE-100 up 0.4%
PRE-MARKET SECTOR WATCH
(+) Large cap tech: mostly higher
(+) Chip stocks: higher
(+) Software stocks: higher
(+,-) Internet stocks: mixed
(-,+) Drug stocks: mixed
(+) Financial stocks: mostly higher
(+,-) Retail stocks: mixed
(-) Airlines: mostly lower
UPSIDE MOVERS
(+) VOD (+1.2%) sells stake in France's SFR.
(+) VVUS (+14.7%) reports on QNEXA's cardiovascular benefits.
(+) MCP (+5.6%) buys controlling stake in AS Silmet which doubles rare earth production capacity.
(+) PFE (+0.8%) sells Capsugel business; gets FDA refusal to file leter on Tafamidis.
(+) F (+1.3%) upgraded.
(+) TSEM (+6.7%) signs term sheet to buy Micron's wafer plant in Japan.
(+) EPIC (+12%) sold to private equity firm Apax for $2 Bln.
(+) CCL (+1.4%) gains on positive Barron's coverage.
(+) CAKE (+2.4%) upgraded.
(+) CPST (+2.6%) inks new orders.
(+) MCD (flat) plans new hiring.
(+) MSSR (+30%) gets 9.25 per share offer.
(+) LB (+9.8%) sold for $19.25 per share.
DOWNSIDE MOVERS
(-) LUV (-4.7%) continues some flight cancellations as fuselage issue reviewed; BA up modestly.
(-) AMIE (-84%) files for Ch. 11.
(-) SNE (-0.9%) Sony and Ericsson JV launches Playstation phone.
(-) LOGI (-2%) continues recent active-volume slide that followed revenue warning.
(-) DEPO (-4.7%) downgraded.
MARKET DIRECTION
Stock futures are maintaining early modest gains as the opening bell
nears. Oil prices, with crude above $108, continue to influence global
investors. Major equity indexes logged thin gains Friday after a mostly
stronger-than-expected March jobs report but no major U.S. economic
reports are due for release Monday.
That puts added attention on the evening remarks from Federal
Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. The Fed chief is due to speak at 7:15
p.m. Eastern Monday.
Last week, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Richard Fisher
told Fox Business Network that he opposed adding more liquidity to the
U.S.