A Peek Into The Market Before The Trading Starts

US stock futures rose in early pre-market trade, ahead of earnings reports and economic data. The S&P/Case-Shiller home price index and the Conference Board's consumer confidence index will be released today. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 31 points to 15,514.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 4.20 points to 1,686.70. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 11 points to 3,076.50.

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index surging 0.50%, London's FTSE 100 index gaining 0.28% and STOXX Europe 600 Index gaining 0.20%. German DAX 30 index rose 0.42% and French CAC 40 Index gained 0.55%. The euro zone's economic sentiment index increased to 92.5 points in July. Asian markets ended mostly higher, reversing Monday's losses. Japan's industrial output fell 3.3% versus May, while the country's unemployment rate dropped to 3.9% in June. China's Shanghai Composite surged 0.70%, while Japan's Nikkei Stock Average jumped 1.53%. Australia's ASX/S&P500 dropped 0.03%, India's Sensex tumbled 1.25% and Hong Kong's Heng Seng Index rose 0.48%.

Analysts at Goldman Sachs downgraded SanDisk

from “buy” to “neutral.” The target price for SanDisk has been raised from $60 to $65. SanDisk's shares closed at $55.40 yesterday.