US Stock Futures Up As Investors Await Ford Earnings, FOMC Meeting In Focus

US stock futures are higher this morning, as investors are awaiting earnings from Ford Motor Co F and the start of the Federal Open Market Committee's meeting. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 33 points to 12,460.00 and S&P 500 index futures rose 5.60 points to 1,336.40. Futures on the Nasdaq 100 surged 8.75 points to 2,386.25. On Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.21% to 12,479.88, the S&P 500 index dropped 0.16% to 1,335.25 and the Nasdaq 100 index rose 0.20% to 2,825.88. Data on Case-Shiller home price for February will be released at 9 a.m. ET. The Conference Board's April consumer confidence report will be released at 10 a.m. ET. Netflix Inc NFLX reported an 88% jump in its Q1 profit, but issued weaker-than-expected Q2 profit projections. The company's earnings came in at $60 million, or $1.11 per share, up from $32 million, or $0.59 per share, in the year-ago period. The company's revenue surged 46% to $719 million. However, analysts expected a profit of $1.08 per share on revenue of $703 million. NFLX projects a Q2 profit of $50 million to $62 million, or $0.93 per share to $1.15 per share. However, analysts were expecting a Q2 profit of $1.18 per share. Oracle Corp ORCL announced the resignation of its Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Jeff Epstein. Express Scripts Inc ESRX reported weaker-than-expected Q1 net income. The company's net income came in at $326.5 million, or $0.61 per share, up from $260.2 million, or $0.47 per share, in the year-ago quarter. The company's sales declined to $11.09 billion from $11.14 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.70 per share on sales of $11.5 billion. ESRX now projects FY11 earnings of $3.15 to $3.25 per share, versus analysts' estimates of $3.22 per share. Ford Motor Co is projected to report its Q1 EPS at $0.50 on revenue of $30.64 billion. 3M Co MMM is estimated to post its Q1 EPS at $1.44 on revenue of $6.95 billion. Coca-Cola Co KO is expected to post its Q1 EPS at $0.87 on revenue of $10.54 billion. Delta Air Lines Inc DAL is estimated to post a Q1 loss at $0.50 per share on revenue of $7.61 billion. Amazon.com Inc AMZN is projected to post its Q1 earnings at $0.61 per share on revenue of $9.52 billion. Lockheed Martin Corp LMT is estimated to report its Q1 earnings at $1.51 per share on revenue of $10.58 billion. AutoNation Inc AN is expected to report its Q1 EPS at $0.43 on revenue of $3.33 billion. U.S. Airways Group Inc LCC is expected to post its Q1 loss at $0.72 per share on revenue of $2.94 billion. European markets were higher today. While STOXX Europe 600 Index has gained 0.16%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved up 0.36%. Asian markets ended lower, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average dropping 1.17% and China's Shanghai Composite dropping 0.88%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.54% and India's Sensex lost 0.20%. Nymex crude futures fell $0.09 to $112.19 a barrel. However, gold futures dropped $3.80 to $1,505.30 an ounce. The dollar was lower against its major rivals, with the euro rising about 0.4% against the greenback to trade at $1.4617. The US dollar also gained 0.1% against the Japanese yen to trade at ¥81.73. Read more from Benzinga's Markets.