US Stock Futures Edge Higher; Ben Bernanke In Focus

US stock futures rose in early pre-market trade. Data on motor vehicle sales will be released today. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is set to speak at 2:30 p.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 9 points to 16,397.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures gained 1.30 points to 1,827.90. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index rose 1.25 points to 3,560.50.

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.39%, London's FTSE 100 index gaining 0.10% and STOXX Europe 600 Index climbing 0.33%. German DAX 30 index surged 0.29% and French CAC 40 Index climbed 0.66%. Spanish jobless claims fell by 107,570 in December, while annual inflation rate came in steady at 0.3% in the month. Asian markets ended lower today. China's Shanghai Composite dropped 1.24%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index tumbled 2.24% and India's BSE Sensex fell 0.18%.

Analysts at Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Sprint Nextel

from “hold” to “sell.” Sprint Nextel's shares fell 2.88% to $10.10 in pre-market trading.