Market Updates: Citigroup Inc (C), Morgan Stanley (MS), AstraZeneca (AZN), Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY)

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Monday as Chinese equities dropped sharply and commodities fell on concerns that asset prices have run ahead of the economic realities. The Shanghai Composite Index plunged 6.7 percent to a three month closing low and recorded its second largest monthly loss in 15 years on worries that corporate earnings failed to justify stock valuations.

Shares of Citigroup Inc (NYSE: C) fell 2.5 percent to $5.10 in premarket trading this morning after Barron’s recommended investors take profits in the stock, according to Reuters.

Bank of America-Merrill Lynch downgraded shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) to neutral from buy and trimmed its price target by a dollar to $32. The stock is no longer deeply undervalued, said research analyst Guy Moszkowski in a note to clients.

A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that Brilinta, a blood-thinning pill developed by AstraZeneca (AZN), works better than Plavix, a rival drug made by Sanofi-Aventis (NYSE: SNY) and Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY), as reported by MarketWatch.

Baker Hughes Inc. (NYSE: BHI) the world’s third-largest oilfield-services provider, agreed to buy BJ Services Co. for $5.5 billion to expand its unconventional natural-gas, deepwater and pressure-pumping businesses. The price represents a 16 percent premium to BJ Services’ stock price on Aug. 28 and will leave BJ stockholders owning about 27.5 percent of Baker Hughes’s outstanding shares. – Bloomberg

Flash Trading News: William O’Brien’s father was a seat holder and trader on the New York Stock Exchange in the 1970s. Now, the younger Mr. O’Brien has become one of the Big Board’s top rivals. The 39-year-old Mr. O’Brien is chief executive of Direct Edge, a trading system that has commandeered 12% of U.S.-listed stock trading, a six-fold increase in just two years. The Big Board is leading an attack against Direct Edge, and has found a sympathetic ear in Congress and the Securities and Exchange Commission. Wall Street Journal story continues here.

-Jutia Group