US Stock Futures Signal Higher Start On Wall Street, General Electric Reports Upbeat Earnings

US stock futures are higher this morning after General Electric (NYSE: GE) reported upbeat quarterly results. Google Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) also reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings after the Thursday's closing bell. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 31 points to 11,805 and S&P 500 futures rose 4.70 points to 1,281. Nasdaq 100 futures gained 7.75 points at 2,289.

US stock markets ended marginally lower yesterday, with the Dow dropping 2.49 points.

Shares of Google gained about 1.6% in pre-market trading after the company reported its Q4 net income at $2.54 billion, or $7.81 per share, up from $1.97 billion, or $6.13 per share, in the year-earlier period. The company's net revenue came in at $6.37 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings at $8.07 per share on revenue of $6.05 billion.

Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) reported its Q4 EPS, ex-items, at $0.04, versus the consensus of $0.14. BAC reported its Q4 revenue at $22.4 billion, versus the estimates of $24.87 billion.

Shares of General Electric gained about 2% in pre-market trading after the company reported upbeat Q4 earnings. The company posted its Q4 EPS at $0.36, beating the consensus of $0.32. GE reported its Q4 revenue at $41.4 billion, versus the estimates of $39.9 billion.

Hewlett-Packard Co (NYSE: HPQ) reported many changes to its board yesterday.

Schlumberger Limited (NYSE: SLB) reported its Q4 adjusted EPS at $0.85, beating the consensus of $0.77. SLB reported its Q4 revenue at $9.07 billion, versus the estimates of $8.70 billion.

Air Products & Chemicals Inc (NYSE: APD) reported its Q1 adjusted EPS at $1.35, versus the consensus of $1.34. APD reported its Q1 revenue at $2.39 billion, versus the estimates of $2.35 billion.

Positive sentiment ruled the European markets today. While STOXX Europe 600 Index has gained 0.70%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved up 0.75%.

Asian markets ended mixed, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average dropping 1.56%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving down 0.64% and China's Shanghai Composite rising 1.41%.

The euro gained 0.5% to $1.35337, while the US dollar fell 0.1% against the Japanese yen. Gold prices moved down in electronic trading, while crude oil traded slightly higher.

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