US Stock Futures Signal Higher Start On Wall Street

US stock futures are higher this morning. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 33 points to 13,955.00 and S&P 500 index futures rose 2.90 points to 1,515.30. Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 5.75 points to 2,777.75.US stocks closed higher on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average surging 0.35% to 13,992.97, the S&P 500 index rising 0.57% to 1,517.93 and the Nasdaq 100 index climbing 0.91% to 3,193.87. CNA Financial (NYSE: CNA) is expected to report its Q4 earnings at $0.04 per share on revenue of $2.05 billion. Nielsen Holdings N.V. (NYSE: NLSN) is projected to report its Q4 earnings at $0.58 per share on revenue of $1.48 billion. Lions Gate Entertainment (NYSE: LGF) is estimated to post its Q3 earnings at $0.16 per share on revenue of $707.02 million.American Financial Group (NYSE: AFG) is expected to post its Q4 earnings at $0.65 per share on revenue of $718.87 million. Loews (NYSE: L) is estimated to report its Q4 earnings at $0.30 per share.Owens & Minor (NYSE: OMI) is estimated to post its Q4 earnings at $0.47 per share on revenue of $2.28 billion. Arch Capital Group (NASDAQ: ACGL) is projected to post a Q4 loss at $0.51 per share on revenue of $563.12 million.Google's (NASDAQ: GOOG) Chairman Eric Schmidt plans to sell 3.2 million shares out of his 7.6 million shares in the Internet search leader. Avista (NYSE: AVA) lifted its common stock dividend by 5.2% to $0.305 per share from $0.29 per share. European markets were mostly higher today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index fell 0.20%, London's FTSE 100 Index gained 0.29%, German DAX 30 Index rose 0.20% and French CAC 40 Index climbed 0.56%.Asian markets ended mostly lower, with Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index dropping 0.18% and India's Sensex falling 0.12%.Gold for April delivery dropped $3.00 to $1,663.90 an ounce.The ICE dollar index (DXY) rose 0.06% to trade at 80.26, up from 80.234 in late North American trading on Friday.