US Stock Futures Up; All Eyes On ECB Meeting

US stock futures are higher this morning, as investors are awaiting a policy decision by the European Central Bank. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 66 points to 13,116.00 and S&P 500 index futures rose 7.90 points to 1,411.40. Nasdaq 100 futures gained 15 points to 2,782.50. US stocks closed mixed on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 0.09% to 13,047.48, the S&P 500 index falling 0.11% to 1,403.44 and the Nasdaq 100 index dropping 0.19% to 3,069.27. The ADP national employment report for August will be released at 8:15 am ET, while data on weekly jobless claims will be released at 8:30 am ET. The ISM non-manufacturing index for August will be released at 10:00 am ET. Hovnanian Enterprises HOV is expected to report a Q3 loss at $0.12 per share on revenue of $386.18 million. UTi Worldwide UTIW is projected to report its Q2 EPS at $0.23 on revenue of $1.28 billion. Layne Christensen Co LAYN is estimated to report its Q2 EPS at $0.43 on revenue of $292.72 million. Quiksilver ZQK is estimated to post its Q3 earnings at $0.05 per share on revenue of $527.18 million. Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance ULTA is expected to post its Q2 earnings at $0.51 per share on revenue of $473.80 million. Smith & Wesson Holding SWHC is expected to post its Q1 EPS at $0.18 on revenue of $128.74 million. Met-Pro MPR is expected to report its Q2 earnings at $0.14 per share on revenue of $26.48 million. VeriFone Systems PAY reported downbeat fiscal third-quarter revenue and issued weak adjusted sales forecast for fiscal fourth-quarter. Zillow Z announced its plans to sell 3.2 million shares in a secondary offering. OCZ Technology Group OCZ lowered its sales forecast for the second quarter. European markets were higher today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index rose 0.70%, French CAC 40 index gained 0.91%. London's FTSE 100 Index moved up 0.55% and German DAX 30 index rose 1.23%. Asian markets ended higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average gaining 0.01%, China's Shanghai Composite rising 0.70% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving up 0.79%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained 0.34% and India's Sensex rose 0.19%. Nymex crude-oil futures gained 1.1% to trade at $96.43 a barrel.