US Stock Futures Rise Ahead Of Consumer Prices, Housing Starts Data

US stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade, ahead of economic data. The consumer price index for July and housing starts data for July will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 34 points to 16,827.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 2.30 points to 1,969.80. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 7 points to 4,020.25.

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index gaining 0.22%, STOXX Europe 600 Index rising 0.34%. German DAX 30 index surged 0.77%, French CAC 40 Index climbed 0.33% and London's FTSE 100 Index gained 0.37%. The euro zone's current account surplus narrowed to EUR13.1 billion in June, from EUR19.8 billion in May. In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average jumped 0.83%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index climbed 0.67%, China's Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.26% and India's Sensex surged 0.11%.

Analysts at Piper Jaffray downgraded Guess?

from Overweight to Neutral. The target price for Guess has been lowered from $32 to $25. Guess' shares closed at $26.24 yesterday.