US Stock Futures Up; Economic Data, Wal-Mart Earnings In Focus

US stock futures are higher this morning, as investors are awaiting economic data and earnings from Wal-Mart Stores

. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 24 points to 12,568.00 and S&P 500 index futures rose 4.30 points to 1,357.30. Nasdaq 100 futures gained 7 points to 2,536.50. US stocks closed lower on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping 1.45% to 12,570.95, the S&P 500 index falling 1.39% to 1,355.49 and the Nasdaq 100 index declining 1.29% to 2,846.81. The consumer price index for October, weekly jobless claims data and the Empire State manufacturing index for November will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The Philadelphia Fed's Business Outlook Survey for November will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Viacom

is projected to report its Q4 earnings at $1.17 per share on revenue of $3.42 billion. Autodesk

is estimated to report its Q3 EPS at $0.43 on revenue of $559.90 million. Dell

is projected to post its Q3 EPS at $0.40 on revenue of $13.90 billion. Wal-Mart Stores is projected to report its Q3 EPS at $1.07 on revenue of $114.95 billion. Bon-Ton Stores

is estimated to post a Q3 loss at $1.05 per share on revenue of $683.00 million. Target

is expected to report its Q3 EPS at $0.79 on revenue of $16.93 billion. Dollar Tree

is estimated to report its Q3 EPS at $0.49 on revenue of $1.73 billion. Ross Stores

is expected to report its Q3 EPS at $0.72 on revenue of $2.26 billion. Stage Stores

is projected to post a Q3 loss at $0.30 per share on revenue of $360.59 million. GameStop

is expected to report its Q3 EPS at $0.33 on revenue of $1.79 billion. NetApp

reported upbeat fiscal second-quarter earnings. Texas Instruments

announced its plans to lower 1,700 jobs worldwide. European markets were lower today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index dropped 0.58%, London's FTSE 100 Index fell 0.35%, French CAC 40 Index declined 0.33% and German DAX 30 index dropped 0.52%. Asian markets ended mostly lower, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average gaining 1.90%, China's Shanghai Composite falling 1.22% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dropping 0.91%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dipped 1.55% and India's Sensex dropped 0.79%. Crude oil for December delivery dropped $0.09 to trade at $86.23 a barrel on Globex. The ICE dollar index (DXY) fell 0.01% to trade at 81.11.