US Stock Futures Flat Ahead Of Housing Starts Data

US stock futures are mostly flat this morning, as investors are awaiting housing starts data. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 3 points to 12,741.00 and S&P 500 index futures rose 1 point to 1,383.50. Nasdaq 100 futures gained 3.75 points to 2,589.25. US stocks closed higher on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 1.65% to 12,795.96, the S&P 500 index gaining 1.99% to 1,386.89 and the Nasdaq 100 index jumping 2.21% to 2,916.07. Data on construction of new homes for October will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Krispy Kreme Doughnuts

reported an upbeat Q3 profit and lifted its forecast for 2013. Urban Outfitters

reported a weaker-than-expected third-quarter profit. Best Buy Co

is projected to report its Q3 earnings at $0.12 per share on revenue of $10.73 billion. Brown Shoe Co

is estimated to report its Q3 EPS at $0.46 on revenue of $703.27 million. Campbell Soup Co

is estimated to report its Q1 earnings at $0.85 per share on revenue of $2.37 billion. Hewlett-Packard Company

is projected to report its Q4 earnings at $1.14 per share on revenue of $30.45 billion. Medtronic

is estimated to report its Q2 EPS at $0.88 on revenue of $4.05 billion. The Valspar

is projected to report its Q4 EPS at $0.85 on revenue of $1.07 billion. Hormel Foods

is expected to report its Q4 EPS at $0.50 on revenue of $2.23 billion. Tech Data

is expected to report its Q3 EPS at $1.33 on revenue of $6.20 billion. salesforce.com

is estimated to post its Q3 EPS at $0.32 on revenue of $776.52 million. European markets were higher today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index fell 0.06%, London's FTSE 100 Index dropped 0.15%, French CAC 40 Index declined 0.19% and German DAX 30 index rose 0.22%. Asian markets ended mostly lower, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average falling 0.12%, China's Shanghai Composite dropping 0.40% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rising 0.57%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index declined 0.16% India's Sensex fell 0.05%. Crude-oil futures declined $0.15 per barrel.