US Stock Futures Up Ahead Of New-Home Sales Data

US stock futures gained in early pre-market trading, ahead of home sales data. Data on new home sales for January will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 29 points to 16,216.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 3.70 points to 1,850.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 6.75 points to 3,695.25.

European markets were mostly lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.24%, London's FTSE 100 index dropping 0.25% and STOXX Europe 600 Index declining 0.21%. German DAX 30 index fell 0.18% and French CAC 40 Index declined 0.41%. German consumer confidence surged to 8.5 points in March. UK GDP increased 0.7% q/q in the fourth quarter, unrevised versus a preliminary estimate. Asian markets ended mostly higher today. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average declined 0.54%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.53%, China's Shanghai Composite Index climbed 0.35% and India's BSE Sensex gained 0.65%.

Analysts at Keefe Bruyette & Woods downgraded Toll Brothers

from “outperform” to “market perform.” The price target for Toll Brothers has been raised from $40 to $42. Toll Brothers shares closed at $38.25 yesterday.