US Stock Futures Up Ahead Of Economic Data

US stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade, ahead of economic data. The producer price index for July and the Empire State manufacturing index for August will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Data on industrial production for July will be released at 9:15 a.m. ET, while The Reuters/University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index for August will be released at 9:55 a.m. ET. Data on e-commerce sales for the second quarter will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 45 points to 16,727.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 4.50 points to 1,958.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 12 points to 3,980.00.

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index gaining 0.79%, STOXX Europe 600 Index rising 0.72%. German DAX 30 index surged 1.00%, French CAC 40 Index climbed 0.97% and London's FTSE 100 Index gained 0.64%. In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average jumped 0.02%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index surged 0.62% and China's Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.92%.

Analysts at Baird upgraded Alcentra Capital

from Neutral to Outperform. The target price for Alcentra Capital is set to $15. Alcentra Capital's shares surged 3.61% to close at $13.20 yesterday.