US Stock Futures Surge Ahead Of Economic Data

US stock futures rose in early pre-market trade, ahead of economic data. Data on durable goods orders for July will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, while the FHFA house price index for June and the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index for June will be released at 9:00 a.m. ET. The Conference Board's consumer confidence index for August and the Richmond Fed manufacturing index for August will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 22 points to 17,078.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 2.30 points to 1,997.20. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index climbed 6 points to 4,069.50.

European markets were mostly higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.50%, STOXX Europe 600 Index gaining 0.10%. German DAX 30 index dropped 0.20%, French CAC 40 Index climbed 0.21% and London's FTSE 100 Index gained 0.27%. In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.59%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index declined 0.37%, China's Shanghai Composite Index declined 0.99% and India's Sensex gained 0.02%.

Analysts at MKM Partners initiated coverage on The Goldman Sachs Group

with a Buy rating. The target price for Goldman Sachs Group is set to $213. Goldman Sachs Group's shares closed at $177.87 yesterday.