US Stock Futures Up Ahead Of Earnings, Jobless Claims Data

US stock futures are higher this morning, as investors are awaiting earnings reports from major companies and jobless claims data. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 36 points to 14,652.00 and S&P 500 index futures rose 3.20 points to 1,577.50. Nasdaq 100 futures gained 9 points to 2,833.00. US stocks closed mostly lower on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping 0.29% to 14,676.30, the S&P 500 index gaining 0.01 point to 1,578.79 and the Nasdaq 100 index rising 0.01% to 3,269.65. Data on weekly jobless claims will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, while the Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index will be released at 9:45 a.m. ET. The EIA weekly report on natural gas stocks will be released at 10:30 a.m. ET, The Kansas City Fed manufacturing index for April will be released at 11:00 a.m. ET. Data on money supply will be released at 4:30 p.m. ET. Zynga ZNGA posted a profit in the first quarter and issued a weak forecast for the second quarter. Intuit INTU lowered its forecast for the third quarter and the year. 3M Company MMM is expected to report its Q1 earnings at $1.65 per share on revenue of $7.81 billion. ConocoPhillips COP is expected to report its Q1 earnings at $1.41 per share on revenue of $13.57 billion. Time Warner Cable TWC is estimated to report its Q1 earnings at $1.38 per share on revenue of $5.49 billion. The Hershey Company HSY is expected to report its Q1 earnings at $1.04 per share on revenue of $1.84 billion. Colgate-Palmolive Co CL is estimated to report its Q1 earnings at $1.32 per share on revenue of $4.30 billion. Exxon Mobil XOM is projected to report its Q1 earnings at $2.05 per share on revenue of $119.83 billion. Amazon.com AMZN is projected to post its Q1 earnings at $0.09 per share on revenue of $16.16 billion. JetBlue Airways JBLU is estimated to report its Q1 earnings at $0.09 per share on revenue of $1.29 billion. Harley-Davidson HOG is estimated to report its Q1 earnings at $0.99 per share on revenue of $1.46 billion. Wynn Resorts WYNN is expected to post its Q1 earnings at $1.55 per share on revenue of $1.36 billion. Starbucks SBUX is estimated to post its Q2 earnings at $0.48 per share on revenue of $3.58 billion. The Dow Chemical Company DOW is expected to report its Q1 earnings at $0.61 per share on revenue of $14.88 billion. The New York Times Company NYT is projected to report its Q1 earnings at $0.04 per share on revenue of $470.45 million. European markets were mostly higher today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index rose 0.09%, London's FTSE 100 Index dropped 0.11%, French CAC 40 Index fell 0.36% and German DAX 30 index rose 0.14%. Asian markets ended mostly higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average surging 0.60% and China's Shanghai Composite dropping 0.86%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.98% and India's Sensex surged 1.14%.