US Stock Futures Rise Ahead Of Existing-Home Sales Data

US stock futures rose in early pre-market trading, ahead of existing-home sales data. Data on existing home sales for January will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 32 points to 16,132.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 3.50 points to 1,839.70. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 6.25 points to 3,677.75.

European markets were mixed today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.29%, London's FTSE 100 index gaining 0.19% and STOXX Europe 600 Index rising 0.22%. German DAX 30 index fell 0.01% and French CAC 40 Index surged 0.32%. Asian markets ended mostly higher today. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average surged 2.88%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.78%, China's Shanghai Composite Index declined 1.17% and India's BSE Sensex gained 0.8%.

Analysts at Keefe Bruyette & Woods upgraded EMC Insurance Group

from “market perform” to “outperform.” The price target for EMC Insurance has been raised from $30 to $35. EMC Insurance's shares closed at $28.33 yesterday.