Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) futures are signaling a positive start to the fourth quarter, though pre-market gains are modest following a mass shooting in Las Vegas overnight -- and with at least 50 people dead and more than 400 injured, it's the deadliest gun attack in U.S. history. And while several Las Vegas-related casino stocks are sinking ahead of the bell, futures on the S&P 500 Index (SPX) and Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) are up, too, after the S&P and Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) nabbed record highs on Friday.
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Buy calls on this small-cap airline stock, if past is prologue.Behind Costco's pre-earnings call buying activity.Why one analyst nearly quintupled their price target on this tech stock.Plus, gun stocks pop; Roku shares retreat; and takeover talk signals a big day for this cloud stock.It was a quiet day for stocks in Asia, as markets in China and South Korea were shuttered for national holidays. However, Japan's Nikkei got a boost from the Bank of Japan's latest Tankan business confidence survey, which touched its highest reading in 10 years. Data was especially promising for large manufacturers, who've benefited from a weakening yen. By the close, the index was up 0.2%.
In Europe, major benchmarks are trading near breakeven at the halfway point. Traders are digesting the latest round of economic data, including weaker-than-expected manufacturing data in the U.K. for September, and a final reading on eurozone manufacturing as a whole was revised lower. Meanwhile, regional travel stocks were outperforming after Monarch Airlines ceased trading. Germany's DAX was last seen sporting a fractional lead, while London's FTSE 100 is down 0.1% and France's CAC 40 has dropped 0.3%.