US stock futures are higher this morning, as investors are awaiting economic data. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 55 points to 12,436.00 and S&P 500 index futures rose 5.70 points to 1,314.30. Nasdaq 100 futures gained 9 points to 2,539.75.
US stocks closed lower on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping 1.28% to 12,419.86, the S&P 500 index declining 1.43% to 1,313.32 and the Nasdaq 100 index falling 1.17% to 2,837.36.
The ADP employment survey for May will be released at 8:15 a.m. ET. Data on weekly jobless claims will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, while the preliminary estimate for Q1 GDP will also be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The Chicago PMI index of business activity will be released at 9:45 a.m. ET.
CIENA Corp (NASDAQ: CIEN) is estimated to post a Q2 loss at $0.03 per share on revenue of $447.37 million.
SAIC Inc (NYSE: SAI) is expected to post its Q1 EPS at $0.33 on revenue of $2.69 billion. Joy Global Inc (NYSE: JOY) is projected to post its Q2 EPS at $1.95 on revenue of $1.43 billion.
Vera Bradley Inc (NASDAQ: VRA) is expected to post its Q1 EPS at $0.29 on revenue of $116.83 million. Esterline Technologies Corp (NYSE: ESL) is expected to post its Q2 earnings at $1.29 per share on revenue of $510.96 million.
Lions Gate Entertainment Corp (NYSE: LGF) posted a loss in the fourth quarter, versus a profit in the year-ago period.
TiVo Inc (NASDAQ: TIVO) posted a loss of $20.8 million in its fiscal first quarter.
European markets were higher today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index gained 0.53%, French CAC 40 index rose 0.88%. London's FTSE 100 Index moved up 0.83% and German DAX 30 index gained 0.57%.
Asian markets ended lower, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average falling 1.05%, China's Shanghai Composite dropping 0.52% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving down 0.36%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 0.32% and India's Sensex declined 0.27%.
The euro gained 0.36% versus the US dollar to trade at $1.2411. The dollar index (DXY) fell 0.27% to 82.82.
By Monica Gerson