US Stock Futures Up; Economic Data In Focus

US stock futures are higher this morning, ahead of consumer spending and new home sales data. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 38 points to 12,141.00 and futures on the S&P 500 stock index rose 5 points to 1,254.10. Nasdaq 100 futures surged 6.25 points to 2,267.00. US stocks closed higher on Thursday, with the Dow Jones industrial average gaining 0.51% to 12,169.65, the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index surging 0.83% to 1,254.00 and the NASDAQ composite index rising 0.83% to 2,599.45. Data on personal-income, consumer- spending and durable- goods-orders will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Data on new-home sales for November will be released at 10 a.m. ET. Christopher & Banks Corp CBK reported a wider FQ3 loss. It posted a quarterly loss of $28.2 million, or $0.79 per share, versus a year-ago loss of $9.2 million, or $0.26 per share. Its revenue climbed to $123.9 million from $120.9 million. Rambus Inc RMBS signed a patent license deal with Broadcom Corp BRCM. Eastman Kodak Co EK announced its plans to sell its gelatin business to Rousselot. Flextronics International Ltd FLEX reported that its board has authorized an additional share repurchase plan. Asian markets ended mostly higher, with Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving up 1.20% and China's Shanghai Composite gaining 0.85%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 1.3654% and India's Sensex dipped 0.47%. European markets were higher today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index has gained 0.58%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved up 0.52%, German DAX 30 index rose 0.35% and France CAC 40 index surged 1.04%. Light, sweet crude oil for February delivery gained $0.18 to $99.71. However, gold futures for February delivery dropped $0.50 to $1,610.10 a barrel. The dollar index (DXY) fell 0.12% to 79.82, versus 79.929 in late North American trade on Thursday.