US Stock Futures Up; Jobs Data In Focus

US stock futures are higher this morning, ahead of July nonfarm payrolls data. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 75 points to 12,906.00 and S&P 500 index futures rose 9.90 points to 1,371.80. Nasdaq 100 futures gained 21 points to 2,639.50. US stocks closed lower on Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping 0.71% to 12,878.88, the S&P 500 index falling 0.74% to 1,365.00 and the Nasdaq 100 index dipping 0.36% to 2,909.77. The Labor Department is scheduled to release July jobs report at 8:30 a.m. ET. The Institute for Supply Management's nonmanufacturing index for July will be released at 10 a.m. ET. Procter & Gamble Co

is projected to report its Q4 EPS at $0.77 on revenue of $20.26 billion. Alliant Energy

is expected to report its Q2 earnings at $0.46 per share on revenue of $699.73 million. Gartner

is estimated to report its Q2 EPS at $0.41 on revenue of $400.99 million. Viacom

is projected to report its Q3 EPS at $1.00 on revenue of $3.49 billion. Telephone & Data Systems

is expected to report its Q2 EPS at $0.43 on revenue of $1.31 billion. Beazer Homes USA

is projected to report a Q3 loss at $0.33 per share on revenue of $263.89 million. WellCare Health Plans

is projected to report its Q2 EPS at $1.21 on revenue of $1.79 billion. United States Cellular

is expected to report its Q2 earnings at $0.69 per share on revenue of $1.09 billion. LinkedIn

posted upbeat quarterly revenue and lifted its full-year forecast. Zipcar

posted a second-quarter loss of $0.01 per share on revenue of $70.8 million. Molycorp

posted a loss in its second quarter. European markets were higher today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index rose 1.08%, French CAC 40 index rose 1.77%. London's FTSE 100 Index moved up 1.11% and German DAX 30 index gained 1.70%. Asian markets ended mostly lower, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average dropping 1.13%, China's Shanghai Composite rising 1.02% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving down 1.10%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped 0.12% and India's Sensex fell 0.15%. Nymex crude-oil futures gained $0.93 to trade at $88.06 a barrel, while gold futures rose $6.60 an ounce to $1,597.30. The dollar index (DXY) dropped 0.43% to trade at 82.98, versus 83.320 in North American trade late Thursday. The euro gained 0.55% versus the dollar to trade at $1.2247, versus $1.2180 on Thursday. The US dollar gained 0.09% against the Japanese yen to trade at ¥78.30, up from ¥78.210 on Thursday.