US Stock Futures Rise Ahead Of Jobless Claims, GDP Data

US stock futures gained in early pre-market trade, ahead of economic data. Data on GDP growth for the second quarter and weekly jobless claims will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The pending home sales index for August will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET, while the Kansas City Fed manufacturing index for September will be released at 11:00 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 17 points to 15,227.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 2.10 points to 1,687.90. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 10.75 points to 3,210.75.

European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.45%, London's FTSE 100 index dropping 1.79% and STOXX Europe 600 Index declining 0.36%. German DAX 30 index fell 0.38% and French CAC 40 Index declined 0.57%. Asian markets ended mixed today. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average surged 1.22%, China's Shanghai Composite declined 1.94% and Australia's ASX/S&P500 gained 0.34%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 0.36% and India's Sensex rose 0.19%.

Analysts at BMO Capital downgraded Intrepid Potash

from “market perform” to “underperform.” The target price for Intrepid Potash is set to $11. Intrepid Potash's shares closed at $16.16 yesterday.