US Stock Futures Signal Higher Start For Wall Street

US stock futures are higher this morning after Hurricane Sandy closed trading for two days. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 60 points to 13,114.00 and S&P 500 index futures rose 9.40 points to 1,417.00. Nasdaq 100 futures gained 14.25 points to 2,673.25. US stocks closed mixed on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 0.03% to 13,107.21, the S&P 500 index dropping 0.07% to 1,411.94 and the Nasdaq 100 index rising 0.06% to 2,987.95. The employment cost index for Q3 will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, while the Chicago PMI for October will be released at 9:45 a.m. ET. Visa

is expected to report its Q4 EPS at $1.50 on revenue of $2.67 billion. Allstate

is projected to report its Q3 EPS at $1.13 on revenue of $6.95 billion. General Motors Company

is estimated to post its Q3 earnings at 0.60 per share on revenue of $35.92 billion. MGM Resorts International

is expected to post a Q3 loss at $0.17 per share on revenue of $2.28 billion. Mastercard

is estimated to report its Q3 earnings at $5.93 per share on revenue of $1.94 billion. MetLife

is projected to report its Q3 earnings at $1.28 per share on revenue of $17.15 billion. The Clorox Company

is estimated to report its Q3 EPS at $0.95 on revenue of $1.35 billion. Walt Disney Co

announced its plans to buy Lucasfilm Ltd, the owner of the "Star Wars" franchise, from its chairman and founder, George Lucas for $4.05 billion in cash and stock. Electronic Arts

reported better-than-expected adjusted earnings for the second fiscal quarter. But the company issued downbeat earnings forecast for the third quarter. European markets were higher today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index climbed 0.43%, London's FTSE 100 Index rose 0.01%, French CAC 40 Index gained 0.62% and German DAX 30 index rose 0.73%. Asian markets ended higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rising 0.98%, China's Shanghai Composite gaining 0.32% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rising 0.66%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index surged 1% and India's Sensex gained 0.47%. Crude-oil for December delivery gained $0.70 to trade at $86.38 a barrel. However, gold for December delivery climbed $4.90 to $1,717 an ounce.