US Stock Futures Edge Higher Ahead Of Economic Data

US stock futures traded slightly higher in early pre-market trade. The S&P/Case-Shiller home price index for December will be released at 9:00 a.m. ET, while the Markit PMI services index for February will be released at 9:45 a.m. ET. The Conference Board's consumer confidence index for February and the Richmond Fed manufacturing index for February will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 7 points to 18,092.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 0.70 points to 2,107.40. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 0.75 points to 4,445.25.

European markets were mostly higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.18%, STOXX Europe 600 Index gaining 0.17% and German DAX 30 index gaining 0.01%. French CAC 40 Index fell 0.05% and London's FTSE 100 Index rose 0.04%. In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.74%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index declined 0.35% and India's BSE Sensex gained 0.10%.

Analysts at Oppenheimer upgraded

from Market Perform to Outperform and raised the price target from $36.00 to $50.00.. Coach shares gained 0.41% to close at $41.71 yesterday.