US Stock Futures Signal Higher Start On Wall Street

Pre-open movers US stock futures surged in early pre-market trading. The Gallup Economic Confidence Index for February will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 163 points to 16,311.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 19.10 points to 1,862.20. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index climbed 41.25 points to 3,710.00. A Peek Into Global Markets European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 1.62%, London's FTSE 100 index surging 1.70% and STOXX Europe 600 Index gaining 1.77%. German DAX 30 index jumped 2.24% and French CAC 40 Index climbed 2.33%. Asian markets ended mostly higher today. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average gained 0.47%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.70%, China's Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.18% and India's BSE Index jumped 1.26%. South Korea's consumer price index climbed 1% y/y in February versus a 1.1% rise in January. Broker Recommendation Analysts at Credit Suisse upgraded Abercrombie & Fitch Company ANF from “neutral” to “outperform.” The price target for Abercrombie & Fitch has been raised from $36 to $52. Abercrombie & Fitch's shares closed at $39.07 yesterday. Breaking news

• Bank of Nova Scotia BNS reported a 6% gain in its first-quarter profit and lifted its dividend. To read the full news, click here.
• Bloomin' Brands BLMN today announced that certain of its stockholders intend to offer for sale in an underwritten secondary offering approximately 18 million shares of its common stock pursuant to the Company's shelf registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. To read the full news, click here.
• AutoZone AZO reported a gain in its fiscal second-quarter profit. AutoZone's quarterly profit surged to $192.8 million, or $5.63 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $176.2 million, or $4.78 per share. To read the full news, click here.
• R. R. Donnelley RRD announced today that it has been awarded a $250 million multi-year agreement by Dex Media for directory production that renews and significantly expands the companies' relationship through 2020. To read the full news, click here.