A Peek Into The Markets: U.S. Stock Futures Edge Higher Ahead Of Consumer Sentiment Data

Pre-open movers

U.S. stock futures traded slightly higher in early pre-market trade. Data on industrial production for February will be released at 9:15 a.m. ET. The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index for March and the index of leading economic indicators for February is schedule for release at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 14 points to 20,896.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 0.50 points to 2,379.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 5 points to 5,420.00.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures gained 0.50 percent to trade at $52.00 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.57 percent to trade at $49.52 a barrel. The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week is schedule for release at 1:00 p.m. ET.

A Peek Into Global Markets

European markets were higher today, with the Spanish Ibex Index rising 0.06 percent, STOXX Europe 600 Index gaining 0.61 percent and German DAX 30 index gaining 0.09 percent. The UK's FTSE index was trading higher by 0.21 percent, while French CAC 40 Index rose 0.44 percent.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.07 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 2.08 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.84 percent and India’s BSE Sensex rose 0.21 percent.

Broker Recommendation

Analysts at Wunderlich upgraded Adobe Systems Incorporated (NASDAQ: ADBE) from Hold to Buy and raised the price target from $115.00 to $145.00.

Adobe shares rose 4.82 percent to $128.25 in pre-market trading.

Breaking news

• Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF) reported upbeat earnings for its fourth quarter on Friday.
• Adobe Systems Incorporated (NASDAQ: ADBE) reported better-than-expected results for its first quarter and issued a strong forecast for the current quarter.
• Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) disclosed that it has priced its 1.34 million share common stock offering at $262 per share.
• Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE: VRX) disclosed the purchase of 3 million shares by ValueAct -- 500,000 shares of March 14, 2017 at $10.88 and the remaining 2.5 million shares at $10.81 per share.