US Stock Futures Surge Ahead Of Morgan Stanley Earnings

US stock futures climbed in early pre-market trade, ahead of earnings from Morgan Stanley

. Data on housing starts for December will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, while industrial production data for November will be released at 9:15 a.m. ET. The Reuter's/University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index for January will be released at 9:55 a.m. E.T. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 47 points to 16,371.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 5.50 points to 1,841.70. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 11.50 points to 3,606.75.

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index gaining 0.33%, London's FTSE 100 index surging 0.22% and STOXX Europe 600 Index climbing 0.47%. German DAX 30 index rose 0.61% and French CAC 40 Index climbed 0.23%. UK retail sales climbed 5.3% y/y in December. Asian markets ended mostly lower today. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average dropped 0.08%, China's Shanghai Composite tumbled 0.93%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.64% and India's BSE Sensex fell 0.95%.

Analysts at Credit Suisse upgraded Forest Laboratories

from “neutral” to “outperform.” The target price for Forest Laboratories has been raised from $60 to $85. Forest Laboratories' shares closed at $68.28 yesterday.