US Stock Futures Flat; Consumer Confidence Data In Focus

US stock futures are mostly flat this morning, ahead of consumer confidence data. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1 point to 13,224.00 and S&P 500 index futures fell 0.90 points to 1,412.20. Nasdaq 100 futures gained 4.75 points to 2,768.25. US stocks closed higher on Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average surging 0.65% to 13,250.11, the S&P 500 index rising 0.71% to 1,415.51 and the Nasdaq 100 index gaining 1.04% to 3,062.39. The University of Michigan is scheduled to release its consumer sentiment index for August at 9:55 a.m. ET. ANN Inc ANN is projected to report its Q2 earnings at $0.51 per share on revenue of $585.71 million. Foot Locker FL is estimated to report its Q2 EPS at $0.32 on revenue of $1.34 billion. The J. M. Smucker Company SJM is projected to report its Q1 earnings at $1.00 per share on revenue of $1.30 billion. Hibbett Sports HIBB is projected to report its Q2 EPS at $0.28 on revenue of $169.66 million. Kirkland's KIRK is expected to report a Q2 loss at $0.08 per share on revenue of $94.41 million. Casual Male Retail Group CMRG is expected to report its Q2 EPS at $0.08 on revenue of $105.07 million. Gap GPS lifted its full-year earnings forecast. Marvell Technology Group MRVL reported downbeat second-quarter results. Aeropostale ARO issued a downbeat profit outlook for the current quarter. European markets were higher today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index surged 0.38%, French CAC 40 index gained 0.42%. London's FTSE 100 Index moved up 0.29% and German DAX 30 index rose 0.33%. Asian markets ended higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average gaining 0.77%, China's Shanghai Composite rising 0.13% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving up 0.93%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained 0.77% and India's Sensex rose 0.19%. Nymex crude-oil futures dropped $0.47 to trade at $95.13 a barrel in electronic trade, while gold futures fell $0.50 to $1,618.70 an ounce. The dollar index (DXY) gained 0.01% to trade at 82.40. The euro gained 0.1% versus the dollar to trade at $1.2371. The US dollar rose 0.2% against the Japanese yen to trade at ¥79.45.