US Stock Futures Flat; Morgan Stanley Earnings, Jobless Claims Data In Focus

US stock futures are mostly flat this morning, as investors are awaiting earnings from Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) and economic data. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 9 points to 13,498.00 and S&P 500 index futures fell 0.50 points to 1,456.60. Nasdaq 100 futures declined 1.50 points to 2,769.00.US stocks closed higher on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 0.04% to 13,557.00, the S&P 500 index gaining 0.41% to 1,460.91 and the Nasdaq 100 index surging 0.10% to 3,104.12. Data on weekly jobless claims will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The Conference Board's index of leading indicators for September and the Philadelphia Fed index of business confidence will be released at 10 a.m. ET.Morgan Stanley is projected to report its Q3 earnings at $0.24 per share on revenue of $6.36 billion. Baxter International (NYSE: BAX) is estimated to report its Q3 EPS at $1.14 on revenue of $3.52 billion. Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) is expected to post its Q3 EPS at $10.65 on revenue of $11.87 billion. Philip Morris International (NYSE: PM) is projected to report its Q3 EPS at $1.39 on revenue of $8.25 billion.Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) is estimated to post a Q3 loss at $0.15 per share on revenue of $1.28 billion. Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) is projected to post its Q1 EPS at $0.56 on revenue of $16.42 billion. Danaher (NYSE: DHR) is expected to report its Q3 EPS at $0.79 on revenue of $4.51 billion.KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY) is estimated to report its Q3 EPS at $0.21 on revenue of $1.03 billion. Sonoco Products Co (NYSE: SON) is expected to report its Q3 EPS at $0.52 on revenue of $1.19 billion. Southwest Airlines Co (NYSE: LUV) is expected to report its Q3 EPS at $0.13 on revenue of $4.36 billion.Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) reported a 16% rise in its third-quarter net income. eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) reported a 22% surge in its third-quarter net income. Align Technology (NASDAQ: ALGN) issued disappointing outlook for its Q3 results. European markets were mostly higher today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index rose 0.02%, London's FTSE 100 Index gained 0.20%, French CAC 40 Index dropped 0.07% and German DAX 30 index rose 0.40%.Asian markets ended higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rising 2%, China's Shanghai Composite gaining 1.24% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rising 0.66%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 0.48% and India's Sensex gained 1.02%.Chinese economy rose 7.4% in the third quarter, versus 7.6% in the previous quarter.The euro fell 0.07% versus the dollar to trade at $1.3111. Crude oil for December delivery gained $0.01 to trade at $92.13 a barrel, while gold futures for December delivery dropped $4.40 to $1,748.60 an ounce.