US Stock Futures Rise; GDP, Jobless Claims Data In Focus

US stock futures gained in early pre-market trading, ahead of economic data. Data on GDP growth for the fourth quarter and weekly jobless claims will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The pending home sales index for February will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET, while the Kansas City Fed manufacturing index for March will be released at 11:00 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 39 points to 16,218.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 4.90 points to 1,847.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 9 points to 3,581.75.

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.26%, London's FTSE 100 index dropping 0.42% and STOXX Europe 600 Index jumping 0.08%. German DAX 30 index climbed 0.06% and French CAC 40 Index fell 0.06%. French consumer confidence index climbed to 88 in March versus 85 in February. Italy's manufacturing business confidence index surged to 99.2 in March, versus 99.1 in February. UK retail sales rose 1.7% on the month in February. Asian markets ended mixed today. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 1.01%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index declined 0.24% and China's Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.83% and India's BSE Sensex climbed 0.42%.

Analysts at Keefe Bruyette & Woods downgraded Citigroup

from “outperform” to “market perform.” The target price for Citigroup has been lowered from $58 to $52. Citigroup's shares dropped 4.80% to $47.75 in pre-market trading.