US Stock Futures Up Ahead Of Factory-Orders Data

US stock futures gained in early pre-market trade, ahead of factory-orders data. Data on factory orders for December will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 34 points to 15,326.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 5.90 points to 1,738.70. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 7.25 points to 3,437.25.

European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.10%, London's FTSE 100 index dropping 0.40% and STOXX Europe 600 Index declining 0.44%. German DAX 30 index fell 1.03% and French CAC 40 Index declined 0.25%. Spanish jobless claims rose by 113,097 to 4.8 million in January. Euro-zone producer prices surged 0.2% in December from November. Asian markets ended mostly lower today. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average tumbled 4.18%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dipped 2.89% and India's BSE Sensex gained 0.01%. Hong Kong's retail sales climbed 5.7% y/y in December.

Analysts at Credit Suisse downgraded Helmerich & Payne

from “neutral” to “underperform.” The price target for Helmerich & Payne is set to $75. Helmerich & Payne's shares closed at $86.27 yesterday.