US Stock Futures Signal Higher Start On Wall Street

US stock futures are higher this morning, after the release of the minutes from the most recent FOMC meeting on Wednesday. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 129 points to 15,372.00 and S&P 500 index futures rose 15.70 points to 1,664.30. Nasdaq 100 futures gained 26.75 points to 3,023.00. US stocks closed mixed on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping 0.06% to 15,291.66, the S&P 500 index rising 0.02% to 1,652.62 and the Nasdaq 100 index gaining 0.47% to 3,520.76. Data on weekly jobless claims and import prices will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index will be released at 9:45 a.m. ET, the EIA weekly report on natural gas stocks will be released at 10:30 a.m. ET. Data on money supply will be released at 4:30 p.m. ET. Yum! Brands

reported upbeat second-quarter profit. PriceSmart

reported weaker-than-expected fiscal third-quarter earnings. Walgreen

lifted its quarterly dividend by 14.5% to 31.5 cents per share from 27.5 cents per share. Commerce Bancshares

is expected to report its Q2 earnings at $0.71 per share on revenue of $262.43 million. Northern Technologies International

is estimated to report its Q3 earnings at $0.18 per share on revenue of $6.22 million. SemiLEDs

is expected to post a Q3 loss at $0.21 per share on revenue of $5.17 million. European markets were higher today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index surged 0.45%, London's FTSE 100 index gained 0.77%, French CAC 40 Index climbed 0.70% and German DAX 30 index rose 1.02%. Asian markets ended higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average gaining 0.39%, China's Shanghai Composite surging 3.23% and Australia's ASX/S&P500 rising 1.26%. Hong Kong's Heng Seng Index gained 2.55% and India's Sensex rose 1.99%.