US Stock Futures Down Ahead Of Earnings

US stock futures are lower this morning. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 77 points to 12,882.00 and S&P 500 index futures fell 8.30 points to 1,357.50. Nasdaq 100 futures declined 19.25 points to 2,617.25.

US stocks closed mixed on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping 0.23% to 13,008.53, the S&P 500 index gaining 0.04% to 1,369.58 and the Nasdaq 100 index rising 0.05% to 2,957.76.

Walt Disney Co (NYSE: DIS) is estimated to post its Q2 EPS at $0.55 on revenue of $9.56 billion. DIRECTV Inc (NASDAQ: DTV) is projected to report its Q1 earnings at $1.05 per share on sales of $7.03 billion. Discovery Communications Inc (NASDAQ: DISCA) is expected to post its Q1 earnings at $0.60 per share on revenue of $1.06 billion.

Henry Schein Inc (NASDAQ: HSIC) is projected to post its Q1 EPS at $0.91 on revenue of $2.03 billion. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE: SMG) is projected to post its Q2 EPS at $2.06 on revenue of $1.20 billion. Tenet Healthcare Corp (NYSE: THC) is expected to post its Q1 EPS at $0.08 on revenue of $2.47 billion.

Liberty Interactive Corporation (NASDAQ: LINTA) is estimated to post its Q1 EPS at $0.16 on revenue of $2.31 billion. Pantry Inc (NASDAQ: PTRY) is projected to post a Q2 loss at $0.38 per share on revenue of $1.86 billion. Charter Communications Inc (NASDAQ: CHTR) is estimated to post a Q1 loss at $0.59 per share on revenue of $1.84 billion.

Electronic Arts Inc (NASDAQ: EA) issued downbeat fiscal first-quarter forecast.

McDonalds Corp (NYSE: MCD) is scheduled to report sales results for April.

Pitney Bowes Inc (NYSE: PBI) raised its 2012 profit forecast to a range of $2.22 to $2.42 per share.

European markets were lower today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index declined 0.84%, French CAC 40 index fell 1.96%. London's FTSE 100 Index moved down 0.32% and German DAX 30 index dropped 1.21%.

Asian markets ended mixed, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rising 0.69%, China's Shanghai Composite dropping 0.12% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving up 0.33%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 0.25% and India's Sensex dropped 2.33%.

Nymex crude oil futures dropped $1.01 to $96.93 a barrel. However, gold futures dropped $12.10 to $1,627 an ounce.

The ICE dollar index (DXY) gained 0.29% to 79.77, up from 79.611 in North American trade late Monday.

The euro fell 0.23% versus the dollar to trade at $1.3021, from $1.3053. However, the greenback dropped 0.14% against the Japanese yen to ¥79.7850, down from ¥79.95.

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