US Stock Futures Rise Ahead Of Earnings, Economic Data

US stock futures traded higher in early pre-market trade. The Empire State manufacturing index for April will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, while industrial production data for March will be released at 9:15 a.m. ET. The NAHB housing market index for April will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET, while the Federal Reserve will release its latest Beige Book report at 2:00 p.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 46.50 points to 18,010.50, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 4.95 points to 2,095.95. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 10.05 points to 4,407.80.

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.45%, STOXX Europe 600 Index surging 0.69% and German DAX 30 index gaining 0.46%. French CAC 40 Index climbed 0.65% and London's FTSE 100 Index rose 0.28%. In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.20%, China's Shanghai Composite Index fell 1.24%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.21% and India's BSE Sensex dipped 0.84%.

Analysts at Wedbush upgraded

from Neutral to Outperform. The price target for Intel has been raised from $34 to $37. Intel shares rose 3.52% to $32.60 in pre-market trading.