US Stock Futures Edge Higher Ahead Of Citigroup Earnings

US stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade, ahead of earnings from Citigroup

. The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index for September will be released at 7:30 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 23 points to 16,255.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 4.60 points to 1,870.20. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 8.75 points to 3,807.25.

European markets were lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index falling 1.20%, STOXX Europe 600 Index dropping 0.95%. German DAX 30 index declined 0.72%, French CAC 40 Index fell 0.94% and London's FTSE 100 Index dropped 0.53%. French consumer prices declined 0.4% in September versus August, while current account deficit widened to 4.5 billion euros ($5.7 billion) in August versus EUR2.2 billion in July. Inflation in the UK declined to 1.2% in September, from 1.5% in August. Spanish consumer price index fell 0.2% y/y in September. In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average tumbled 2.38%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.41%, China's Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.28% and India's BSE Sensex dropped 0.13%.

Analysts at Goldman Sachs downgraded Ford Motor Company

from Buy to Neutral. The price target for Ford Motor has been lowered from $21 to $17. Ford Motor's shares fell 0.89% to $13.42 in pre-market trading.