As investors anxiously await U.S. economic data, there is somewhat of a sigh of relief as 23 European Union nations have agreed upon tighter fiscal constraints in the wake of the sovereign debt crisis. Britain is among four nations disagreeing with the plan.
Germany and France, the two biggest economies in the euro zone, had hoped to persuade all 27 members of the European Union to back a change to the EU treaty that would impose tight fiscal rules on its members. However, Britain and three others refused to join in.
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 100 points to 12,112 and those on the Standard & Poor’s 500 index climbed 12.10 points to 1,242.3.
Nasdaq 100 futures gained 20.25 points to 2,301.7.
After overnight talks in Brussels, Belgium at the European Union headquarters, 23 European nations agreed to participate in a new inter-governmental agreement on tougher fiscal rules. Hungary, Sweden and the Czech Republic have reportedly not committed yet.
The euro rose against the dollar to $1.3402. European markets were slightly higher, with the Stoxx Europe 600 index up 1.2% to 240.60.
The rising futures are following stock indexes higher in Europe, though they were down from their daily peaks. Germany’s DAX is up 1.5 % at 5,963 while the CAC-40 in France rose 1.7% to 3,148. The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares is 1.1% lower at 5,484.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.5% to close at 8,536.46 while South Korea’s Kospi sank 2% to close at 1,874.75. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng tumbled 2.7% to end at 18,586.23.
Benchmark oil for January delivery rose 16 cents to $98.50 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Stocks to watch this morning include Blue Coat Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:BCSI), Flow International Corporation (NASDAQ:FLOW), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), THQ Inc. (NASDAQ:THQI) and Toyota Motor Corporation (NYSE:TM).
Blue Coat Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:BCSI) is up 44.62% this morning at $17.48. BCSI has traded 1.5 million shares in pre market trading, already above its daily average for the day. Blue Coat announced it has agreed to be acquired by private equity frim Thoma Bravo for $1.3 billion. The company has a market cap of 748.18 million.
Flow International Corporation (NASDAQ:FLOW) is up 28.10% in pre market trading at $3.10. Flow International posted a better than expected profit for the second quarter late yesterday. FLOW posted EPS of $0.06, higher than the expected $0.01. FLOW trades 198 thousand shares a day on average. The company has a market cap of 115.48 million.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is up 0.55% in pre market trading at $392.78. AAPL trdaes on average 14.59 million shares a day. AAPL saw a decent jump in intraday trading yesterday reaching a high of $394 before settling back down to around $390. Apple has a market cap of 363.08 billion.
Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) is up 0.80% in pre market trading at $192.00. AMZN trades 6.71 million shares a day on average. Retailers are in an uproar with Amazon after the company released a price check app that allows for in-store price comparison. Amazon has a market cap of 86.62 billion.
THQ Inc. (NASDAQ:THQI) is up 5.44% in pre market trading at $0.949. THQI trades 1.94 million shares a day on average. THQI has taken a massive hit the past few days after cutting its revenue forecast for the current quarter by 25%. This caused THQI stock to fall from around $1.70 to below a $1 in two days. THQ has a market cap of 61.51 million.
Toyota Motor Corporation (NYSE:TM) is down slightly in pre market trading at $67.08. TM trades 605 thousand shares a day on average. Toyota cut its full-year earnings forecast this morning blaming a strong yen and Thai floods. The company expects net profit of 180 billion yen, down from 390 billion yen they projected a few months ago. Toyota has a market cap of 105.25 billion.
