US Stock Futures Up Ahead Of Durable-Goods Orders Data

US stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade. Data on durable goods orders for March will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 15 points to 17,996.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 2.45 points to 2,109.45. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index jumped 28.90 points to 4,510.40.

European markets were mostly higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index gaining 0.82 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index surging 0.35 percent and German DAX 30 index rising 0.48 percent. French CAC 40 Index gained 0.31 percent and London's FTSE 100 Index fell 0.30 percent. In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.83 percent, China's Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.47 percent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.84 percent and India's BSE Sensex fell 1.07 percent.

Analysts at JP Morgan upgraded Amazon.com, Inc.

from Neutral to Overweight and raised the price target from $375.00 to $535.00.. Amazon.com shares jumped 9.75 percent to $428.00 in pre-market trading.