US Stock Futures Up; Jobless Claims, ECB Meeting In Focus

US stock futures are higher this morning, ahead of jobless claims data and the European Central Bank meeting. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 31 points to 13,457.00 and S&P 500 index futures rose 4.20 points to 1,448.90. Nasdaq 100 futures gained 8.25 points to 2,816.25. US stocks closed higher on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 0.09% to 13,494.61, the S&P 500 index gaining 0.36% to 1,450.99 and the Nasdaq 100 index surging 0.49% to 3,135.23. Data on weekly jobless claims will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, while factory orders data for August will be released at 10 a.m. ET. Many retailers are scheduled to report same-store sales results for September. International Speedway ISCA is estimated to report its Q3 earnings at $0.08 per share on revenue of $127.35 million. NuVasive NUVA lowered its third-quarter sales forecast. Applied Materials AMAT announced its plans to lower 6% to 9% of its total workforce. European markets were lower today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index fell 0.27%, London's FTSE 100 Index dropped 0.30%, French CAC 40 Index dropped 0.29% and German DAX 30 index fell 0.28%. Asian markets ended higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average surging 0.89% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rising 0.31%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained 0.09% and India's Sensex rose 1.04%. Gold for December delivery gained $9.10 to trade at $1,789 an ounce, while November crude gained $0.44 to $88.61 a barrel. The dollar gained 0.08% versus the US dollar to trade at ¥78.55, versus ¥78.53 in late North American trading Wednesday. The ICE dollar index (DXY) declined 0.18% to trade at 79.76, down from 79.967. The euro rose 0.33% against the dollar to trade at $1.2947, versus $1.2903.