US Stock Futures Up Ahead Of Economic Data

US stock futures are higher this morning. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 28 points to 13,265.00 and S&P 500 index futures rose 2.80 points to 1,429.20. Nasdaq 100 futures gained 3.75 points to 2,788.25.

US stocks closed lower on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping 0.39% to 13,254.29, the S&P 500 index falling 0.61% to 1,429.08 and the Nasdaq 100 index dipping 1.03% to 3,104.02.

An index of small-business activity for August will be released at 7:30 a.m. ET, while data on July trade will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET.

United Natural Foods (NASDAQ: UNFI) is expected to report its Q4 earnings at $0.51 per share on revenue of $1.32 billion. Hanwha SolarOne Co Ltd (NASDAQ: HSOL) is projected to post a Q2 loss at $0.31 per share on revenue of $173.86 million.

Globecomm Systems (NASDAQ: GCOM) is estimated to post its Q4 EPS at $0.20 on revenue of $99.17 million.

Shuffle Master (NASDAQ: SHFL) reported weaker-than-expected fiscal third-quarter results.

Casey's General Stores (NASDAQ: CASY) reported a stronger-than-expected fiscal first-quarter profit.

McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) is expected to release August sales figures.

European markets were lower today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index fell 0.47%, French CAC 40 index dropped 0.30%. London's FTSE 100 Index moved down 0.38% and German DAX 30 index fell 0.18%.

Asian markets ended mixed, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average dropping 0.70%, China's Shanghai Composite declining 0.67% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving down 0.22%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained 0.15% and India's Sensex rose 0.49%.

Nymex crude-oil futures gained $0.10 to trade at $96.64 a barrel in electronic trade, while gold futures gained $1.80 to $1,733.60 an ounce.

The dollar index (DXY) dropped 0.24% to trade at 80.20. The euro gained 0.3% versus the dollar to trade at $1.2796.

The US dollar fell 0.2% against the Japanese yen to trade at ¥78.08.

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