US Stock Futures Flat; All Eyes On Fed

Pre-open movers US stock futures were mostly flat in early pre-market trade, ahead of FOMC minutes due this week. The Chicago Fed National Activity Index for July will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 2 points to 15,004.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 0.30 points to 1,645.20. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 1.75 points to 3,072.25. A Peek Into Global Markets European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index dropping 2.34%, London's FTSE 100 index dropping 0.63% and STOXX Europe 600 Index declining 1.10%. German DAX 30 index fell 1.13% and French CAC 40 Index tumbled 1.49%. Euro-zone construction output surged 1.0% in the second quarter. Asian markets ended lower today. Hong Kong's consumer price index increased 6.9% y/y in July, versus a 4.1% growth in June. China's Shanghai Composite surged 0.83%, while Japan's Nikkei Stock Average declined 2.63%. Australia's ASX/S&P500 dropped 0.66% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 2.20% and India's Sensex tumbled 0.34%. Broker Recommendation Analysts at Piper Jaffray downgraded Edwards Group (NASDAQ: EVAC) from “overweight” to “neutral.” The target price for Edwards Group has been lowered from $12 to $10. Edwards Group's shares closed at $10.00 yesterday. Breaking news

• The Home Depot (NYSE: HD) reported a 17.2% gain in its fiscal second-quarter net earnings. Home Depot raised its fiscal 2013 earnings forecast to $3.60 per share. To read the full news, click here.
• AngioDynamics (NASDAQ: ANGO) announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted 510(k) clearance to Navilyst Medical Inc., an AngioDynamics company, for its BioFlo Port with Endexo technology designed to reduce the accumulation of catheter-related thrombus on, and in, the port catheter. To read the full news, click here.
• Accenture (NYSE: ACN) has signed an extension to its application outsourcing agreement with RSA for five additional years through the end of 2020. To read the full news, click here.
• Lexmark International (NYSE: LXK) today announced the signing of an agreement to acquire Germany-based Saperion AG, a leading developer and provider of enterprise content management (ECM) and business process management (BPM) software in Europe, for a cash purchase price of approximately $72 million. To read the full news, click here.