US Stock Futures Up; Bernanke In Focus

US stock futures are higher this morning, ahead of a speech by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 65 points to 13,420.00 and S&P 500 index futures rose 5.80 points to 1,440.00. Nasdaq 100 futures gained 15 points to 2,807.00. US stocks closed lower on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping 0.36% to 13,437.13, the S&P 500 index falling 0.45% to 1,440.67 and the Nasdaq 100 index declining 0.65% to 3,116.23. The ISM index on the manufacturing sector will be released at 10 a.m. ET. Cal-Maine Foods

is projected to report its Q1 earnings at $0.40 per share on revenue of $282 million. Ferrellgas Partners LP

is projected to report a FQ4 loss of $0.38 per share on revenue of $419.6 million. Team

is estimated to post its Q1 EPS at $0.39 on revenue of $155.85 million. Jakks Pacific

lowered its full-year view. AutoZone

reported that its board authorized the buyback of an additional $750 million of its stock. European markets were higher today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index rose 0.86%, London's FTSE 100 Index gained 1.02%, French CAC 40 Index surged 1.29% and German DAX 30 index rose 1.30%. Asian markets ended mostly higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average dropping 0.83% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rising 0.05%. India's Sensex surged 0.33%. Nymex crude-oil futures dropped $0.17 to trade at $92.02 a barrel in electronic trade, while gold futures fell $0.30 to $1,773.60 an ounce. The dollar index (DXY) dropped 0.1% to trade at 79.822. The euro gained 0.2% versus the dollar to trade at $1.2883. The US dollar rose 0.03% against the Japanese yen to trade at ¥78.00.