US Stock Futures Up; GDP Data In Focus

US stock futures are higher this morning, as investors are awaiting economic data. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 28 points to 12,853.00 and S&P 500 index futures rose 2.70 points to 1,357.50. Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 8 points to 2,580.50. US stocks closed higher on Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 1.67% to 12,887.93, the S&P 500 index gaining 1.65% to 1,360.02 and the Nasdaq 100 index surging 1.37% to 2,893.25. Data on Q2 gross-domestic-product will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Merck & Co

is projected to report its Q2 EPS at $1.01 on revenue of $12.16 billion. Chevron

is expected to report its Q2 EPS at $3.24 on revenue of $68.56 billion. Helmerich & Payne

is expected to report its Q3 EPS at $1.16 on revenue of $780.42 million. Legg Mason

is projected to report its Q1 EPS at $0.00 on revenue of $645.22 million. DR Horton

is estimated to report its Q3 EPS at $0.20 on revenue of $1.19 billion. Pilgrim's

is expected to report its Q2 EPS at $0.28 on revenue of $2.04 billion. Newell Rubbermaid

is projected to report its Q2 EPS at $0.45 on revenue of $1.52 billion. Shares of Starbucks

tumbled about 11% in pre-market trading after the company reported a 19% rise in its net income for the fiscal third quarter and lowered its forecast for the current quarter. Shares of Facebook

dipped about 9.4% in pre-market trading after the company posted a net loss for the second quarter. Its revenue surged 32% to $1.18 billion in the quarter. Amazon.com

reported a 96% drop in its second-quarter earnings. European markets were mixed today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index rose 0.28%, French CAC 40 index rose 0.41%. London's FTSE 100 Index moved down 0.13% and German DAX 30 index dipped 0.42%. Asian markets ended higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rising 1.46%, China's Shanghai Composite gaining 0.13% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving up 1.45%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained 2.02% and India's Sensex jumped 1.30%. Gold for August delivery gained $7.60 to $1,622.50 an ounce. Nymex crude-oil futures gained $0.15 to $89.54 a barrel, The dollar index (DXY) gained 0.06% to 82.87, up from 82.837 late Thursday. The euro fell 0.07% against the dollar to trade at $1.2275, down from $1.2284 late Thursday.