US Stock Futures Up As Investors Await Nonfarm-Payrolls Data; Crude Oil Futures Drop To $98.27 a barrel

US stock futures are higher this morning, as investors are awaiting April nonfarm-payrolls data. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 28 points to 12,598.00 and futures on the S&P 500 stock index rose 4.30 points to 1,339.30. Nasdaq 100 futures surged 8.30 points to 2,387.50. US stocks closed lower on Thursday, with the Dow Jones industrial average dropping 1.10% to 12,584.17, the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index declining 0.91% to 1,335.10 and the NASDAQ composite index dipping 0.48% to 2,814.72. The Labor Department is scheduled to report nonfarm payrolls and other labor market data at 8:30 a.m. ET. Weight Watchers International Inc WTW is expected to report its Q1 earnings at $0.89 per share on revenue of $478.31 million. Washington Post Company WPO is projected to report its Q1 EPS at $4.35 on revenue of $1.06 billion. Liberty Media Corp LINTA is projected to report its Q1 EPS at $0.13 on revenue of $2.18 billion. AM Castle & Co CAS is estimated to report its Q1 EPS at $0.20 on revenue of $266.95 million. Pepco Holdings Inc POM is projected to post its Q1 earnings at $0.20 per share. Madison Square Garden Inc MSG is expected to post its Q1 earnings at $0.26 per share on revenue of $323.05 million. Visa Inc V reported a 24% surge in its fiscal second-quarter profit. The company's quarterly earnings increased to $881 million, or $1.23 per share, from $713 million, or $0.96 per share, in the year-ago period. The company's revenue jumped 15% y/y to $2.25 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $1.20 per share on revenue of $2.23 billion. Visa's board also authorized a new $1 billion share buyback program. American International Group Inc AIG reported a Q1 loss at $543 million, or $0.35 per share, versus a net income of $359 million, or $2.66 per share, in the year-earlier period. The company's revenue dropped to $17.44 billion from $18.56 billion. The company's operating income increased to $2.0 billion from $637 million in the year-ago period. Shares of Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc RBS gained about 5.7% in pre-market trading after the company reported its Q1 net loss at 528 million pounds ($865 million), versus a loss of 248 million pounds, in the year-earlier period. The company's operating profit increased 19% to 1.05 billion pounds as total impairments on bad loans fell 27% y/y to 1.95 billion pounds. Most Asian markets ended lower, with Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving down 0.26% and China's Shanghai Composite declining 0.30%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dropped 0.44% and India's Sensex surged 1.69%. European markets were mixed today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index has gained 0.04%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved down 0.39%. Against the dollar, the euro dropped 0.1% to $1.4537. Against the yen, the dollar traded at 80.35 Japanese yen. June oil futures dropped $1.53, or 1.5%, at $98.27 a barrel in recent action. Silver futures fell $1.49, or 4%, at $34.75 an ounce in recent action. Gold traded at $1,481.80 an ounce in recent trade. Read more from Benzinga's Markets.