US Stock Futures Flat; Factory-Orders Data In Focus

US stock futures are mostly flat this morning, ahead of factory-orders data. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 3 points to 12,773 and S&P 500 index futures fell 0.10 points to 1,357.50. Nasdaq 100 futures gained 3.75 points to 2,618.00. US stocks closed mixed on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping 0.07% to 12,871.39, the S&P 500 index rising 0.25% to 1,365.51 and the Nasdaq 100 index jumping 0.55% to 2,951.23. Data on factory orders will be released at 10 a.m. ET. Auto makers are scheduled to report US sales figures for June. Microsoft MSFT announced a $6.2 billion charge for the fourth quarter related to the company's acquisition of aQuantive in 2007. Men's Wearhouse MW announced the departure of its Chief Financial Officer Neill Davis. Davis will join Francesca's Holdings FRAN as President. Shares of BrightPoint CELL surged 66.54% yesterday after the company agreed to be bought by Ingram Micro IM for $650 million European markets were higher today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index rose 0.46%, London's FTSE 100 Index surged 0.37%, French CAC 40 Index gained 0.20% and German DAX 30 index rose 0.73%. Asian markets ended mostly higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rising 0.70%, China's Shanghai Composite gaining 0.14% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dropping 0.15%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index surged 1.51% India's Sensex rose 0.15%. Nymex crude-oil futures climbed $1.38 to $85.13 a barrel in electronic trade. However, gold futures gained $11.60 to $1,609.30 an ounce. The dollar index (DXY) gained 0.02% to 81.88. The euro rose 0.1% against the dollar to trade at $1.2589. The US dollar rose 0.5% versus the Japanese yen to trade at ¥79.83.