US stock futures are higher this morning, as investors are awaiting earnings from Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS). Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 57 points to 12,917.00 and S&P 500 index futures rose 5.20 points to 1,372.50. Nasdaq 100 futures gained 15 points to 2,635.00.
US stocks closed higher on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 0.81% to 12,908.70, the S&P 500 index gaining 0.67% to 1,372.78 and the Nasdaq 100 index surging 1.12% to 2,942.60.
Data on weekly jobless claims and June durable-goods orders will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Data on June pending home sales will be released at 10 a.m. ET.
Morgan Stanley is estimated to report its Q2 EPS at $0.43 on revenue of $7.70 billion. Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) is projected to post its Q2 earnings at $10.05 per share on revenue of $8.41 billion. Safeway (NYSE: SWY) is expected to report its Q2 EPS at $0.49 on revenue of $10.34 billion.
Unitedhealth Group (NYSE: UNH) is estimated to report its Q2 earnings at $1.19 per share on revenue of $27.34 billion. Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) is estimated to post its Q4 EPS at $0.62 on revenue of $18.11 billion. KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY) is expected to report its Q2 EPS at $0.18 on revenue of $997.46 million.
Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) is projected to report its Q2 earnings at $0.64 per share on revenue of $28.56 billion. AutoNation (NYSE: AN) is estimated to report its Q2 EPS at $0.59 on revenue of $3.73 billion. Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI) is projected to report its Q3 EPS at $0.66 on revenue of $10.82 billion. Southwest Airlines Co (NYSE: LUV) is projected to report its Q2 EPS at $0.32 on revenue of $4.58 billion.
eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) posted better-than-expected second-quarter results.
International Business Machines (NYSE: IBM) posted a rise in its second-quarter profit and lifted its earnings forecast for the year.
American Express (NYSE: AXP) posted a 1% rise in its second-quarter net profit.
European markets were higher today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index rose 0.49%, London's FTSE 100 Index gained 0.28%, French CAC 40 Index gained 0.51% and German DAX 30 index rose 0.54%.
Asian markets ended higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rising 0.79%, China's Shanghai Composite gaining 0.73% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rising 1.92%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index surged 1.66% India's Sensex rose 0.51%.
Nymex crude-oil futures gained $0.64 cents to $90.51 a barrel. However, gold futures climbed $9.10 to $1,579.90 an ounce.
The dollar index dropped 0.1% to 82.967.
BY Monica Gerson