US Stock Futures Rise Ahead Of Consumer Sentiment Data

US stock futures surged in early pre-market trade, ahead of economic data. Data on consumer spending and the Chicago Fed National Activity Index for November will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The Reuter's/University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index for December will be released at 9:55 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 53 points to 16,234.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures gained 7.90 points to 1,822.40. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index rose 26 points to 3,558.25.

European markets were mostly higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index dropping 0.09%, London's FTSE 100 index gaining 0.50% and STOXX Europe 600 Index surging 0.33%. German DAX 30 index climbed 0.54% and French CAC 40 Index declined 0.10%. Italian consumer confidence index dropped to 96.2 in December, versus 98.2 in November. Asian markets ended higher today. China's Shanghai Composite gained 0.24%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.48% and India's BSE Sensex jumped 0.1%.

Analysts at Bank of America downgraded Micron Technology

from “neutral” to “underperform.” The target price for Micron Technology has been lowered from $20.50 to $19.50. Micron's shares closed at $22.17 on Friday.