US Stock Futures Up Ahead Of New-Home Sales Data

Pre-open movers US stock futures gained in early pre-market trading, ahead of home sales data. Data on new home sales for January will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 29 points to 16,216.00, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 3.70 points to 1,850.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 6.75 points to 3,695.25. A Peek Into Global Markets European markets were mostly lower today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.24%, London's FTSE 100 index dropping 0.25% and STOXX Europe 600 Index declining 0.21%. German DAX 30 index fell 0.18% and French CAC 40 Index declined 0.41%. German consumer confidence surged to 8.5 points in March. UK GDP increased 0.7% q/q in the fourth quarter, unrevised versus a preliminary estimate. Asian markets ended mostly higher today. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average declined 0.54%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.53%, China's Shanghai Composite Index climbed 0.35% and India's BSE Sensex gained 0.65%. Broker Recommendation Analysts at Keefe Bruyette & Woods downgraded Toll Brothers TOL from “outperform” to “market perform.” The price target for Toll Brothers has been raised from $40 to $42. Toll Brothers shares closed at $38.25 yesterday. Breaking news

• Lowe's Companies LOW reported a 6.3% gain in its fiscal fourth-quarter profit and announced an additional $5 billion stock buyback program. To read the full news, click here.
• Royal Bank of Canada RY reported a 2% rise in its first-quarter profit and lifted its dividend by 6%. To read the full news, click here.
• Yandex YNDX today announced that Yandex and Google GOOG have entered into a mutually beneficial strategic partnership agreement in respect of online display advertising sales. To read the full news, click here.
• Vodafone, VOD has awarded Ericsson ERIC with a 5 year agreement as part of its Project Spring organic investment programme initial phase. To read the full news, click here.