US Stock Futures Surge Ahead Of Economic Data

US stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade, ahead of economic data. Data on durable goods orders for April will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, while the FHFA house price index and the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index for March will be released at 9:00 a.m. ET. The Markit PMI services (flash) for May will be released at 9:45 a.m. ET, while the Conference Board's consumer confidence index and the Richmond Fed manufacturing index for May will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. The Dallas Fed general business activity index for May will be released at 10:30 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 72 points to 16,658.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 8.80 points to 1,905.70. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 19.50 points to 3,694.50.

European markets were mostly higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.24%, STOXX Europe 600 Index gaining 0.17%. German DAX 30 index surged 0.35%, French CAC 40 Index fell 0.01% and London's FTSE 100 Index gained 0.52%. French consumer confidence remained unchanged at 85 in May. In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average jumped 0.23%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.08%, China's Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.34% and India's BSE Sensex tumbled 0.68%. India's current account deficit narrowed to $1.2 billion in the three months ended March, from $18.1 billion deficit in the year-ago period.

Analysts at Goldman Sachs downgraded Staples

from “neutral” to “sell.” The target price for Staples has been lowered from $11.50 to $11. Staples' shares fell 3% to $11.30 in pre-market trading.