US Stock Futures Up Ahead Of Economic Data

US stock futures are higher this morning, as investors are awaiting economic data. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 35 points to 13,303.00 and S&P 500 index futures rose 4.60 points to 1,430.90. Nasdaq 100 futures gained 11 points to 2,733.75. US stocks closed lower on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping 0.95% to 13,344.97, the S&P 500 index declining 0.62% to 1,432.56 and the Nasdaq 100 index falling 0.43% to 3,051.78. Data on weekly jobless claims, trade-deficit and import prices will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Fastenal Company FAST is estimated to report its Q3 earnings at $0.37 per share on revenue of $804.80 million. Cantel Medical CMN is expected to report its Q4 earnings at $0.32 per share on revenue of $102.70 million. Safeway SWY is projected to report its Q3 earnings at $0.42 per share on revenue of $10.24 billion. JB Hunt Transport Services JBHT is estimated to post its Q3 earnings at $0.66 per share on revenue of $1.28 billion. Winnebago Industries WGO is projected to report its Q4 earnings at $0.17 per share on revenue of $163.03 million. VOXX International VOXX cut its FY13 adjusted EBITDA forecast. Ruby Tuesday RT reported a 16% drop in its fiscal first-quarter profit. European markets were higher today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index rose 0.31%, London's FTSE 100 Index gained 0.34%, French CAC 40 Index gained 0.41% and German DAX 30 index rose 0.58%. Asian markets ended mostly lower, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average dropping 0.58%, China's Shanghai Composite dropping 0.81% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 falling 0.15%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 0.38% and India's Sensex surged 1.06%. Crude oil for November delivery gained $0.55 to $91.81 a barrel. However, gold for December delivery surged $5.40 to trade at $1,770.60 an ounce. The euro gained 0.07% versus the dollar to trade at $1.2885, versus $1.2869 in North American trade late Wednesday.