US Stock Futures Up; RBA Cuts Interest Rate

US stock futures are higher this morning. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 46 points to 13,483.00 and S&P 500 index futures rose 6.80 points to 1,443.70. Nasdaq 100 futures gained 12.75 points to 2,801.00. US stocks closed mostly higher on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 0.58% to 13,515.11, the S&P 500 index rising 0.27% to 1,444.49 and the Nasdaq 100 index dropping 0.09% to 3,113.53. Acuity Brands AYI is estimated to report its Q4 earnings at $0.92 per share on revenue of $522.09 million. Resources Connection RECN is expected to post its Q1 earnings at $0.12 per share on revenue of $136.95 million. The Mosaic Company MOS is projected to report its Q1 earnings at $1.15 per share. Xyratex Ltd XRTX is estimated to post its Q3 earnings at $0.44 per share on revenue of $316.33 million. Fifth & Pacific Companies FNP lowered its 2012 outlook. Ford F and General Motors Company GM are scheduled to report their new-car sales for September. Jobless claims in Spain surged 1.7% to 4,705,279 in September. European markets were higher today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index rose 0.22%, London's FTSE 100 Index surged 0.20%, French CAC 40 Index gained 0.01% and German DAX 30 index rose 0.40%. Asian markets ended mostly higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average dropping 0.12% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rising 0.99%. The Reserve Bank of Australia cut its policy interest rate by 0.25 percentage points to 3.25%. Nymex crude-oil futures gained $0.23 to trade at $92.71 a barrel in electronic trade, while gold futures fell $1.70 to $1,781.60 an ounce. The dollar index (DXY) dropped 0.1% to trade at 79.782. The euro gained 0.2% versus the dollar to trade at $1.2908. The US dollar gained 0.21% against the Japanese yen to trade at ¥78.1850.