US Stock Futures Flat; Bank of America Earnings In Focus

US stock futures are mostly flat this morning, as investors are awaiting earnings from Bank of America BAC. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 5 points to 13,458.00 and S&P 500 index futures rose 0.30 points to 1,449.50. Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 1.50 points to 2,763.75. US stocks closed higher on Tuesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 0.95% to 13,551.78, the S&P 500 index gaining 1.03% to 1,454.92 and the Nasdaq 100 index surging 1.21% to 3,101.17. Data on housing starts for September will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Bank of America is estimated to report a Q3 loss at $0.07 per share on revenue of $21.89 billion. Halliburton Company HAL is projected to report its Q3 EPS at $0.67 on revenue of $7.14 billion. St. Jude Medical STJ is estimated to report its Q3 EPS at $0.81 on revenue of $1.34 billion. Abbott Laboratories ABT is expected to report its Q3 EPS at $1.28 on revenue of $9.93 billion. eBay EBAY is expected to post its Q3 earnings at $0.54 per share on revenue of $3.40 billion. Pepsico PEP is estimated to report its Q3 EPS at $1.16 on revenue of $16.90 billion. Stanley Black & Decker SWK is projected to report its Q3 EPS at $1.45 on revenue of $2.84 billion. U.S. Bancorp USB is estimated to report its Q3 earnings at $0.74 per share on revenue of $5.14 billion. Dover DOV is projected to report its Q3 EPS at $1.28 on revenue of $2.25 billion. Quest Diagnostics DGX is projected to report its Q3 EPS at $1.18 on revenue of $1.91 billion. Intel INTC issued downbeat fourth-quarter forecast. International Business Machines IBM reported a 5.4% drop in its third-quarter revenue. Fortinet FTNT issued downbeat forecast for the full year. ASML Holding ASML announced its plans to acquire Cymer CYMI for 1.95 billion euros ($2.5 billion). European markets were higher today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index rose 0.13%, London's FTSE 100 Index gained 0.31%, French CAC 40 Index surged 0.26% and German DAX 30 index rose 0.15%. Asian markets ended higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rising 1.21%, China's Shanghai Composite gaining 0.32% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rising 0.82%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 0.99% and India's Sensex gained 0.25%. The euro gained 0.46% against the dollar to trade at $1.3115. Crude oil for November delivery rose $0.10 to trade at $92.19 a barrel, while gold for December delivery gained $3.90 to $1,750.20 an ounce.