US Stock Futures Signal Higher Start On Wall Street

US stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 33 points to 16,687.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 4.10 points to 1,913.30. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 7.75 points to 3,729.00.

European markets were mostly higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.29%, STOXX Europe 600 Index falling 0.04%. German DAX 30 index surged 0.15%, French CAC 40 Index rose 0.06% and London's FTSE 100 Index gained 0.06%. French producer prices declined 0.1% in April versus March, while consumer spending slipped 0.3% in April versus a 0.6% growth in March. In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average jumped 0.24%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.59%, China's Shanghai Composite Index surged 0.77% and India's BSE Sensex rose 0.03%.

Analysts at Deutsche Bank downgraded Dollar General

from “buy” to “hold.” The target price for Dollar General has been lowered from $65 to $60. Dollar General's shares closed at $56.30 yesterday.