US Stock Futures Up Ahead Of Economic Data - Mastercard (NYSE:MA)

Pre-open movers

US stock futures gained in early pre-market trading. The Chicago Fed National Activity Index for January will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, while the Markit PMI Services Flash data for February will be released at 8:58 a.m. ET. The Dallas Fed general business activity index for February will be released at 10:30 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 26 points to 16,119.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 4.60 points to 1,838.90. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 9.50 points to 3,674.00.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were mixed today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.28%, London's FTSE 100 index dropping 0.38% and STOXX Europe 600 Index declining 0.22%. German DAX 30 index fell 0.19% and French CAC 40 Index surged 0.01%. Euro-zone consumer prices declined 1.1% in January versus December. Asian markets ended mostly lower today. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average declined 0.19%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.80%, China's Shanghai Composite Index declined 1.75% and India's BSE Sensex gained 0.53%.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Bank of America upgraded Verizon Communications

from “neutral” to “buy.” The price target for Verizon is set to $55. Verizon's shares fell 0.21% to $47.17 in pre-market trading.

Breaking news

Alexion Pharmaceuticals ALXN today announced that the European Commission has granted an orphan drug designation (ODD) to Soliris® (eculizumab), a first-in-class terminal complement inhibitor, for the prevention of delayed graft function (DGF) after solid organ transplantation. To read the full news, click here.
Ruckus Wireless RKUS and Global Reach Technology today announced a strategic partnership to give service providers and enterprises the ability to more easily provision, manage and monetize public Smart Wi-Fi access services. To read the full news, click here.
Quantenna Communications and Texas Instruments TXN announced today their collaboration on solutions for enterprise and pico small cell base stations. To read the full news, click here.
At Mobile World Congress, MasterCard today announced MasterPass™ in-app payments, enabling consumers to make secure purchases within a mobile app. MasterPass in-app payments eliminate the need to store payment card credentials across numerous mobile apps, providing consumers with a fast and simple payment experience. To read the full news, click here.

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