United, Best Buy, Pfizer, Monsanto, National City in focus

By Abby Deveney, MarketWatch

Pre-open moves

Stock futures were strong after some better-than-expected data related to U.S. employment. Investors were awaiting Fed chief Bernanke's testimony before Congress about the economy, rates and the credit crunch.

See indications for full pre-open coverage.

Global markets

Financials drove gains in Europe. Investors in Asia gained new confidence as credit fears subsided, and markets generally advanced.

See Global Markets page for Europe, U.K. and Asia markets.

Broker action

AFLAC Inc. /quotes/comstock/13*!afl/quotes/nls/afl (AFL 50.02, +0.45, +0.91%) was cut to neutral from buy at UBS, as the broker said positive catalysts appeared to be priced into the stock.

See Upgrades/Downgrades: The Internet's most complete source for analyst comment.

Breaking news: See Market Pulse for all the latest

• United Airlines became the latest airline to ground planes, saying it won't fly 52 Boeing 777s until safety tests are completed. The carrier warned that flights could be delayed and canceled on Wednesday. The unit of UAL Corp. /quotes/comstock/15*!uaua/quotes/nls/uaua (UAUA 22.29, +0.36, +1.64%) said it discovered some lapses in pre-flight safety checks.

• Companies in the U.S. private sector added 8,000 jobs in March, according to the ADP employment report. The report comes two days before the Labor Department details nonfarm payroll growth. Adding in some 25,000 jobs typically created by government, the ADP report suggests nonfarm payrolls grew by about 33,000 in March, much better that the drop of 60,000 expected by Wall Street economists.

• Fannie Mae has told lenders it will require a credit score of at least 580 for most individual loans as part of the latest move to make its standards more stringent for mortgages it buys or guarantees, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. Previously, Fannie didn't require a minimum credit rating.

• National City Corp. , which has seen its stock battered due to its exposure to troubled loans and softening real estate markets, is contemplating a plan to sell itself to KeyCorp. /quotes/comstock/13*!key/quotes/nls/key (KEY 7.93, +0.08, +1.02%) , The Wall Street Journal reported.

• Monsanto Co.'s /quotes/comstock/13*!mon/quotes/nls/mon (MON 54.35, +0.36, +0.67%) fiscal second-quarter net income rose to $1.13 billion from $543 million a year earlier, helped in part by higher corn seed revenue.

• Best Buy Co.'s /quotes/comstock/13*!bby/quotes/nls/bby (BBY 33.46, +0.80, +2.45%) fiscal fourth-quarter net income fell 3.4% to $737 million.

• Pfizer /quotes/comstock/13*!pfe/quotes/nls/pfe (PFE 16.40, +0.12, +0.74%) shares may see pressure after the drugmaker stopped early a late-stage trial of a skin cancer treatment because data showed the medication wasn't better than standard chemotherapy.

• Caterpillar /quotes/comstock/13*!cat/quotes/nls/cat (CAT 68.54, +0.38, +0.56%) said late Tuesday it's hiking prices by as much as 5% on various products.

• The International Monetary Fund now expects the U.S. economy to grow by only 0.5% in 2008, while European growth is set to slow to 1.3%, according to news reports, which cited leaked documents.

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Abby Deveney is a news editor for MarketWatch in London.

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