US Stock Futures Gain Ahead Of Durable-Goods Orders Data

US stock futures climbed in early pre-market trading, ahead of economic data. Data on durable goods orders for February will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, while the Markit PMI Services Flash data for March will be released at 9:45 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 43 points to 16,341.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 4.30 points to 1,863.60. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 13.25 points to 3,637.00.

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 1.10%, London's FTSE 100 index gaining 0.54% and STOXX Europe 600 Index jumping 0.75%. German DAX 30 index climbed 1.26% and French CAC 40 Index surged 0.93%. Asian markets ended mostly higher today. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.37%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index surged 0.72% and China's Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.18% and India's BSE Sensex climbed 0.18%.

Analysts at Wunderlich downgraded Panera Bread Company

from “buy” to “hold.” The target price for Panera Bread Company has been lowered from $205 to $190. Panera Bread's shares closed at $185.82 yesterday.