US Stock Futures Up; Gold Futures Rise

US stock futures are higher this morning. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 81 points to 14,782.00 and S&P 500 index futures rose 10.80 points to 1,594.70. Nasdaq 100 futures gained 17.75 points to 2,897.75. US stocks closed lower on Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbling 2.34% to 14,758.32, the S&P 500 index dropping 2.50% to 1,588.19 and the Nasdaq 100 index declining 2.28% to 3,364.63. Tibco Software

reported a decline in its fiscal second-quarter profit. Oracle

reported downbeat fiscal fourth-quarter revenue. CarMax

is expected to report its Q1 earnings at $0.58 per share on revenue of $3.15 billion. Darden Restaurants

is projected to report its Q4 earnings at $1.04 per share on revenue of $2.27 billion. American Software

reported a 12% drop in its fiscal fourth-quarter net income. European markets were higher today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index surged 0.72%, London's FTSE 100 index gained 0.83%, French CAC 40 Index climbed 0.93% and German DAX 30 index rose 0.35%. Asian markets ended mostly lower, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rising 1.66%, China's Shanghai Composite dropping 0.52% and Australia's ASX/S&P500 falling 0.42%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index declined 0.59% and India's Sensex gained 0.34%. Gold for August delivery gained 0.43% to trade at $1,291.70 an ounce.