US Stock Futures Up; Jobless Claims, Apple Earnings In Focus

US stock futures are higher this morning, as investors are awaiting weekly jobless claims data. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 65 points to 13,086.00 and S&P 500 index futures rose 9.20 points to 1,414.50. Nasdaq 100 futures gained 19 points to 2,669.50. US stocks closed lower on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipping 0.19% to 13,077.34, the S&P 500 index falling 0.31% to 1,408.75 and the Nasdaq 100 index dropping 0.29% to 2,981.70. Data on durable-goods orders for September and weekly jobless claims will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. However, data on September pending home sales will be released at 10 a.m. ET. The Dow Chemical Company DOW is projected to report its Q3 EPS at $0.37 on revenue of $14.22 billion. Procter & Gamble Co PG is projected to report its Q1 earnings at $0.96 per share on revenue of $20.78 billion. Altria Group MO is estimated to report its Q3 earnings at $0.58 per share on revenue of $4.36 billion. Colgate-Palmolive Co CL is projected to report its Q3 EPS at $1.38 on revenue of $4.39 billion. ConocoPhillips COP is estimated to report its Q3 earnings at 1.19 per share on revenue of $11.11 billion. Sprint Nextel S is projected to report a Q3 loss at $0.43 per share on revenue of $8.81 billion. AutoNation AN is projected to report its Q3 earnings at $0.67 per share on revenue of $3.95 billion. Apple AAPL is expected to post its Q4 EPS at $8.81 on revenue of $36.02 billion. The Hershey Company HSY is expected to report its Q3 EPS at $0.86 on revenue of $1.75 billion. The New York Times Company NYT is estimated to report its Q3 EPS at $0.08 on revenue of $479.23 million. Zynga ZNGA announced a share buyback plan and posted upbeat third-quarter revenue. F5 Networks FFIV issued a weak fiscal first-quarter forecast. European markets were higher today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index rose 0.58%, London's FTSE 100 Index gained 0.42%, French CAC 40 Index climbed 0.68% and German DAX 30 index rose 0.61%. Asian markets ended mostly higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average surging 1.13%, China's Shanghai Composite dropping 0.68% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rising 0.06%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained 0.21% and India's Sensex gained 0.29%. Nymex crude-oil futures gained $0.75 to trade at $86.48 per barrel in electronic trade. However, gold futures gained $14.20 to $1,715.80 an ounce The dollar index dropped 0.2% to trade at 79.779. The euro rose 0.4% against the dollar to trade at $1.3014. The US dollar rose 0.4% versus the Japanese yen to trade at ¥80.14.