US stock futures are slightly lower this morning, as investors are awaiting earnings reports. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 23 points to 13,017.00 and S&P 500 index futures fell 2.70 points to 1,384.50. Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 6 points to 2,698.50.
US stocks closed higher on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining 0.69% to 13,090.72, the S&P 500 index rising 1.36% to 1,390.69 and the Nasdaq 100 index surging 2.30% to 3,029.63.
Data on weekly jobless claims data will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The Chicago Fed's national activity index for March will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, while data on March pending home sales will be released at 10 a.m. ET.
Colgate-Palmolive Co (NYSE: CL) is estimated to post its Q1 EPS at $1.24 on revenue of $4.18 billion. Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM) is projected to post its Q1 earnings at $2.09 per share on revenue of $124.76 billion. Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN) is projected to post its quarterly earnings at $0.08 per share on revenue of $12.90 billion. United Parcel Service Inc (NYSE: UPS) is expected to post its Q1 EPS at $1.02 on revenue of $13.26 billion.
Pepsico Inc (NYSE: PEP) is projected to post its Q1 EPS at $0.67 on revenue of $12.36 billion. Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE: LMT) is projected to post its Q1 EPS at $1.70 on revenue of $10.56 billion. Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX) is estimated to post its quarterly earnings at $0.39 per share on revenue of $3.18 billion. MetLife Inc (NYSE: MET) is expected to post its Q1 EPS at $1.28 on revenue of $16.67 billion.
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE: BMY) is projected to post its Q1 EPS at $0.63 on revenue of $5.26 billion. The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW) is expected to post its Q1 EPS at $0.60 on revenue of $15.01 billion. Kellogg Company (NYSE: K) is estimated to post its Q2 earnings at $0.90 per share on revenue of $3.41 billion. Safeway Inc (NYSE: SWY) is expected to post its Q1 EPS at $0.30 on revenue of $10.06 billion.
Ancestry.com Inc (NASDAQ: ACOM) reported upbeat Q1 earnings and agreed to buy privately held Archives.com for $100 million.
Akamai Technologies Inc (NASDAQ: AKAM) reported better-than-expected profit and revenue for first quarter. However, the company issued downbeat profit forecast for second quarter.
European markets were mostly lower today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index dropped 0.28%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved up 0.04%, French CAC 40 index fell 0.63% and German DAX 30 index dropped 0.66%.
Asian markets ended mostly higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rising 0.01%, China's Shanghai Composite dropping 0.09% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rising 0.25%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained 0.79% and India's Sensex fell 0.12%.
Nymex crude oil futures dropped $0.23 to $103.89 a barrel in electronic trade. However, gold futures gained $5.90 to $1,648.20 an ounce.
The dollar index (DXY) declined 0.09% to 78.99, versus 79.072. The euro fell to $1.3214, from $1.3220 in North American trade late Wednesday.
The US dollar declined 0.61% versus the Japanese yen to trade at ¥80.8450, versus ¥81.45.
By Monica Gerson