US Stock Futures Up Ahead Of Pending Home Sales Data

US stock futures are slightly higher this morning, as investors are awaiting pending home sales report. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 18 points to 13,050.00 and S&P 500 index futures rose 2.20 points to 1,396.30. Nasdaq 100 futures gained 9.25 points to 2,738.00. US stocks closed higher on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 0.27% to 13,080.73, the S&P 500 index surging 0.31% to 1,397.11 and the Nasdaq 100 index gaining 0.15% to 3,067.92. Data on pending home sales for February will be released at 10 a.m. ET. Cal-Maine Foods Inc CALM is projected to report its FQ3 earnings at $1.02 per share on revenue of $319.50 million. Apollo Group Inc APOL is expected to post its quarterly earnings at $0.37 per share on revenue of $932.82 million. Verisk Analytics Inc VRSK announced its plans to buy medical record company MediConnect Global Inc for $348.6 million. Shoe Carnival Inc SCVL unveiled a three-for-two stock split of the shares of the Company's common stock. Armstrong World Industries Inc AWI announced its plans to pay a special cash dividend of $8.55 per share. European markets were mostly higher today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index gained 0.34%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved up 0.36%, French CAC 40 index rose 0.02% and German DAX 30 index gained 0.29%. Asian markets ended mixed, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rising 0.07%, China's Shanghai Composite gaining 0.05% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving down 0.13%. India's Sensex dipped 1.84%. Crude-oil futures for April delivery dropped $0.56 to $106.36 a barrel. Gold for April delivery declined $3.10 to $1,659.30 an ounce. The ICE dollar index (DXY) gained 0.32% to trade at 79.57, versus 79.344 late Friday in North America.