US Stock Futures Gain Ahead Of Earnings, Economic Data

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

,

,

and

. Data on weekly jobless claims and the Chicago Fed National Activity Index for September will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The FHFA House Price Index for August will be released at 9:00 a.m. ET. Data on existing home sales for September and leading economic indicators for September will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 49 points to 17,105.0, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 7.50 points to 2,016.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index climbed 18.88 points to 4,418.13.

European markets were mostly higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.07 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index gaining 0.07 percent and German DAX 30 index climbing 0.31 percent. French CAC 40 Index slipped 0.02 percent and London's FTSE 100 Index fell 0.08 percent. In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.64 percent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.63 percent, China's Shanghai Composite Index jumped 1.45 percent.

Analysts at UBS downgraded

from Buy to Neutral. SanDisk shares fell 0.08 percent to $76.72 in pre-market trading.