US Stock Futures Flat; Gold Rises

US stock futures are mostly flat this morning. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 4 points to 12,059.00 and S&P 500 index futures fell 2 points to 1,271.00. Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 4.25 points to 2,464.75. US stocks closed mixed on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping 0.14% to 12,101.46, the S&P 500 index gaining 0.01% to 1,278.18 and the Nasdaq 100 index rising 0.46% to 2,760.01. The Institute for Supply Management's non-manufacturing index for May will be released at 10 a.m. ET. Layne Christensen Co LAYN is projected to post its Q1 EPS at $0.23 on revenue of $265.29 million. United Natural Foods Inc UNFI is estimated to post its Q3 earnings at $0.56 per share on revenue of $1.35 billion. Bob Evans Farms Inc BOBE is projected to post its Q4 EPS at $0.74 on revenue of $424.00 million. American Woodmark Corp AMWD is expected to post a Q4 loss at $0.07 per share on revenue of $133.19 million. G-III Apparel Group Ltd GIII is estimated to post a Q1 loss at $0.04 per share on revenue of $213.39 million. Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc ULTA is expected to post its Q1 EPS at $0.53 on revenue of $473.86 million. Oxford Industries Inc OXM is projected to post its Q1 EPS at $1.07 on revenue of $230.18 million. Starbucks Corp SBUX announced its plans to buy bakery chain La Boulange for $100 million in cash. Dollar General Corp DG reported a 36% surge in its first-quarter profit and lifted its full-year forecast. European markets were mostly higher today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index rose 0.11%, French CAC 40 index rose 0.48% and German DAX 30 index dropped 0.78%. Asian markets ended higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average gaining 1.04%, China's Shanghai Composite rising 0.15% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving up 1.46%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained 0.40% and India's Sensex surged 0.18%. Nymex crude-oil futures dropped $0.30 to trade at $83.68 a barrel, while gold futures gained $2.40 an ounce to $1,616.30. The dollar index gained 0.32% to 82.82, versus 82.528 in North American trade late Monday. The euro dropped 0.52% versus the dollar to trade at $1.2435, versus $1.2493. The dollar fell 0.12% versus the Japanese yen to trade at ¥78.2550, down from ¥78.33 late Monday.