US Stock Futures Up Ahead of Economic Data

Pre-open movers US stock futures surged in early pre-market trade, ahead of the economic data release. The Markit PMI manufacturing index (final) for September will be released at 8:58 a.m. ET. The ISM manufacturing composite index for September and construction spending data for August will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 54 points to 15,100.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 7.60 points to 1,681.90. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 13.75 points to 3,222.75. A Peek Into Global Markets European markets were mostly higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.73%, London's FTSE 100 index dropping 0.23% and STOXX Europe 600 Index gaining 0.32%. German DAX 30 index rose 0.62% and French CAC 40 Index gained 0.71%. Asian markets ended mostly higher today. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.20%, Australia's ASX/S&P500 dropped 0.22% and India's Sensex surged 0.76%. China's official manufacturing PMI climbed rose to 51.1 in September, from 51.0 in August. Broker Recommendation Analysts at Canaccord Genuity upgraded Cree, Inc. CREE from “hold” to “buy.” The target price for Cree has been increased from $65 to $80. Cree shares closed at $ 60.19 yesterday. Breaking news

• Accenture ACN has completed its acquisition of PRION Group – a leading consulting and systems integrator that specializes in Siemens Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) Software. To read the full news, click here.
• Magic Software Enterprises MGIC announced today that it has accelerated its expansion into China with the appointment of United Electronics Co., Ltd. (UEC) as a Magic xpa and Magic xpi prime partner and reseller for Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau. To read the full news, click here.
• Biogen Idec BIIB announced new data analyses from year one of the two-year, pivotal, Phase 3 ADVANCE study of PLEGRIDYTM (peginterferon beta-1a). To read the full news, click here.
• Wyndham Hotel Group, the world's largest hotel company with approximately 7,410 hotels and part of Wyndham Worldwide WYN, today announced the signing of 17 hotels representing over 2,300 rooms across Germany and Austria in association with Grand City Hotels.To read the full news, click here.