US Stock Futures Gain Ahead Of Earnings, Economic Data

US stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade, ahead of economic data and earnings reports. Data on initial jobless claims will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, while the Markit PMI manufacturing index (flash) for July will be released at 9:45 a.m. ET. Data on new home sales for June will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET, while the Kansas City Fed manufacturing index for July will be released at 11:00 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 34 points to 17,059.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 4.50 points to 1,985.30. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 14.50 points to 3,990.00.

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 1.53%, STOXX Europe 600 Index surging 0.41%. German DAX 30 index gained 0.47%, French CAC 40 Index climbed 0.73% and London's FTSE 100 Index surged 0.14%. Spanish unemployment rate declined to 24.5% in the second quarter versus 25.9% in the first quarter. Euro-zone composite PMI jumped to 54.0 in July from 52.8 in June. French composite PMI surged to 49.4 in July, versus 48.1 in June. UK retail sales volumes increased 0.1% in June versus May. In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.29%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index surged 0.71%, China's Shanghai Composite Index gained 1.28% and India's BSE Sensex rose 0.48%.

Analysts at Benchmark downgraded Electronic Arts

from Buy to Hold. The target price for Electronic Arts has been raised from $41.01 to $41.82. Electronic Arts' shares closed at $36.04 yesterday.