US Stock Futures Edge Higher Ahead Of Earnings

US stock futures rose in early pre-market trading, ahead of earnings from major companies. The consumer price index for March and the Empire State manufacturing index for April will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The NAHB housing market index for April will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 10 points to 16,106.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 2.60 points to 1,827.10. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 7 points to 3,477.25.

European markets were mostly lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 0.23%, London's FTSE 100 index dropping 1.12% and STOXX Europe 600 Index slipping 0.47%. German DAX 30 index dropped 0.49% and French CAC 40 Index rose 0.01%. UK retail sales dropped 0.3% y/y in March. Asian markets ended mostly lower today. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average surged 0.62%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 1.60%, China's Shanghai Composite slipped 1.40% and India's BSE Index dropped 0.64%.

Analysts at Bank of America upgraded Morgan Stanley

from “neutral” to “buy.” The target price for Morgan Stanley is set to $35. Morgan Stanley's shares closed at $29.06 yesterday.