US Stock Futures Surge Ahead Of Wal-Mart Earnings

US stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade, ahead of earnings from

. The Consumer Price Index for October will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, while Industrial production data for October will be released at 9:15 a.m. ET. The NAHB housing market index for November will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 92.5 points to 17,513.5, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 9.50 points to 2,057.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 22.38 points to 4,582.12.

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 2.08 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index surging 2.17 percent and German DAX 30 index gaining 2.01 percent. French CAC 40 Index climbed 2.41 percent and London's FTSE 100 Index rose 1.93 percent. In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei Stock rose 1.22 percent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index climbed 1.15 percent, China's Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.06 percent and India's BSE Sensex climbed 0.41 percent.

Analysts at RBC Capital downgraded

from Outperform to Sector Perform. The price target for Urban Outfitters has been lowered from $32 to $23. Urban Outfitters shares closed at $22.67 on Monday.