Stocks are indicated modestly higher following gains in overseas markets and as investors brace for a round of economic data Wednesday morning. Less than thirty minutes before the opening bell on Wall Street, stock index futures hint at modest early gains for both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the NASDAQ.

Benchmarks are mostly higher across Europe and Asia. In Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 1.1 percent and the Shanghai Composite added .8 percent after the People’s Bank of China said economic growth was still insufficient and the Central Bank is staying flexible with respect to monetary policy. Meanwhile, UK’s FTSE is up .9 percent and pacing a modest advance in Europe.

Crude oil is up 37 cents to $74.77 a barrel ahead of weekly inventory data due out at 10:30 a.m. eastern time and gold is flat at $1086.70 an ounce.

The dollar edged down .11 to 91.71 against the yen. The euro edged up to 1.4275 on the buck.

Bonds are holding gains after data released Wednesday morning showed November Personal Spending and Income increasing 0.5% and 0.4%, respectively; which was below economist estimates of +0.7% and +0.5%. The benchmark ten-year Treasury is up 11/32nd and now yields 3.71 percent.

Attention turns to reports on consumer sentiment and new home sales data at 10:00. Economists expect the University of Michigan Sentiment Index to improve to 73.8 for December, up from 73.4 the month before. New home sales are expected to rise to an annual rate of 438,000 in November, up from 430,000 the prior month.

Among the stocks to watch, Micron Technology (MU) gained 4 percent after reporting a quarterly profit of 23 cents per share, which beat Street estimates by 16 cents. Ford Motor (F) is in focus on reports it is selling Volvo to China’s Geely. Cintas (CTAS) fell 9 percent on disappointing earnings news. Sandisk (SNDK) might see early gains after ThinkEquity upgraded the stock to Buy with a $35 price target.