US Stock Futures Up Ahead Of Consumer Sentiment Data

US stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade. Data on import and export prices for January will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index for February will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 36 points to 17,968.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 3.50 points to 2,087.60. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index climbed 11.75 points to 4,356.50.

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 1.33%, STOXX Europe 600 Index surging 0.52% and German DAX 30 index gaining 0.57%. French CAC 40 Index climbed 0.73% and London's FTSE 100 Index rose 0.65%. In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.37%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 1.07%, China's Shanghai Composite Index climbed 0.96% and India's BSE Sensex surged 1.01%.

Analysts at Goldman Sachs upgraded Orbitz Worldwide, Inc.

from Sell to Neutral and raised the price target from $7.00 to $9.00. Orbitz Worldwide's shares rose 21.83% to close at $11.72 yesterday.