US Stock Futures Gain Ahead Of ISM Report

US stock futures climbed in early pre-market trading, ahead of economic data. Data on motor vehicle sales for March will be released today. The Markit PMI manufacturing index for March will be released at 9:45 a.m. ET, while the ISM manufacturing composite index for March and construction spending data for February will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 40 points to 16,413.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 4.10 points to 1,868.70. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 7 points to 3,593.25.

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.94%, London's FTSE 100 index gaining 0.50% and STOXX Europe 600 Index jumping 0.50%. German DAX 30 index climbed 0.58% and French CAC 40 Index rose 0.85%. Euro-zone final manufacturing PMI slipped to 53.0 in March, versus 53.2 in February. France's PMI for the sector rose to 52.1, versus 49.7 in February. Germany PMI fell to 53.7 from 54.8 in February. Asian markets ended mostly higher today. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.24%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumped 1.34% and China's Shanghai Composite Index climbed 0.70% and India's BSE Sensex climbed 0.27%. The HSBC India manufacturing PMI declined to 51.3 in March, versus 52.5 in February. The Reserve Bank of India kept its interest rate steady at 8%. The HSBC China manufacturing PMI slipped to 48.0 in March versus 48.5 in February, while the country's official manufacturing PMI climbed to 50.3 in March.

Analysts at Wunderlich initiated coverage on shares of Extreme Networks

with a “buy” rating. The target price for Extreme Networks is set to $9. Extreme Networks' shares closed at $5.80 yesterday.