US Stock Futures Up; JPMorgan Earnings In Focus

US stock futures are higher this morning, as investors are awaiting earnings from JPMorgan Chase & Co JPM. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 48 points to 12,550.00 and S&P 500 index futures rose 5.10 points to 1,334.30. Nasdaq 100 futures gained 10 points to 2,547.75. US stocks closed lower on Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping 0.25% to 12,573.27, the S&P 500 index falling 0.50% to 1,334.76 and the Nasdaq 100 index declining 0.75% to 2,866.19. The June producer-prices index will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. However, the recent University of Michigan consumer-confidence figures will be released at 9:55 a.m. ET. JPMorgan Chase & Co is projected to report its Q2 earnings at $0.76 per share on revenue of $21.93 billion. iGATE IGTE is expected to report its Q2 earnings at $0.29 per share on revenue of $268.64 million. Wells Fargo & Company WFC is projected to report its Q2 earnings at $0.81 per share on revenue of $21.36 billion. Webster Financial WBS is expected to report its Q2 earnings at $0.44 per share on revenue of $145.17 million. Acme Packet APKT announced its plans to buy back up to $200 million in stock. Darden Restaurants DRI agreed to buy Yard House USA for $585 million in cash. Resources Connection RECN reported a rise in its Q4 earnings. European markets were higher today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index rose 0.54%, London's FTSE 100 Index gained 0.57%, French CAC 40 Index climbed 0.40% and German DAX 30 index rose 0.66%. Asian markets ended mostly higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average gaining 0.05%, China's Shanghai Composite rising 0.02% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rising 0.30%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 0.35% India's Sensex fell 0.11%. China's economic growth slowed to 7.6% in the second quarter, versus an 8.1% expansion in the first quarter Nymex crude-oil futures gained $0.60 to trade at $86.68 a barrel in electronic trade. However, gold futures surged $13.60 to $1,578.90 an ounce. The dollar index fell 0.1% to trade at 83.59. The euro fell 0.04% versus the dollar to trade at $1.2199. The US dollar declined 0.1% against the Japanese yen to trade at 79.23 yen.