US Stock Futures Up Ahead Of Fed Decision

US stock futures are slightly higher this morning. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 15 points to 13,293.00 and S&P 500 index futures rose 2.10 points to 1,433.60. Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 5.50 points to 2,691.25. US stocks closed higher on Tuesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining 0.60% to 13,248.44, the S&P 500 index rising 0.65% to 1,427.84 and the Nasdaq 100 index surging 1.18% to 3,022.30. Data on November import prices will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, while the federal budget statement for the month of November will be released at 2 p.m. ET. The Federal Reserve is scheduled to announce its recent monetary policy decision at 12:30 p.m. ET. However, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will hold a news conference at 2:15 p.m. ET. Costco Wholesale

reported a 30% surge in its first-quarter profit. Joy Global

is projected to report its Q4 earnings at $1.91 per share on revenue of $1.42 billion. Molycorp

announced the resignation of its President and Chief Executive Mark Smith. General Mills

declared a quarterly dividend of $0.33 per share. Facebook

will replace Infosys Ltd

on the Nasdaq-100 Index before the opening bell on Wednesday. European markets were mostly higher today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index rose 0.11%, London's FTSE 100 Index gained 0.23%, French CAC 40 Index dropped 0.17% and German DAX 30 index rose 0.24%. Asian markets ended mostly higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rising 0.59%, China's Shanghai Composite gaining 0.39% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rising 0.23%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.80% and India's Sensex dropped 0.16%. Nymex crude-oil futures climbed $0.43 to trade at $86.22 a barrel, while gold futures gained $5.40 to $1,715.00 an ounce. The dollar index (DXY) dropped 0.09% to trade at 79.98.