US Stock Futures Up As Investors Await Industrial Production, Housing Data; H-P, Wal-Mart Earnings In Focus

US stock futures are higher this morning, as investors are awaiting industrial production and housing data, along with earnings reports from Hewlett-Packard Co HPQ and Wal-Mart Stores Inc WMT. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 39 points to 12,548.00 and futures on the S&P 500 stock index rose 5.00 points to 1,330.60. Nasdaq 100 futures gained 8.25 points to 2,342.75. US stocks closed lower on Monday, with the Dow Jones industrial average dropping 0.38% to 12,548.37, the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index declining 0.62% to 1,329.47 and the NASDAQ composite index dipping 1.63% to 2,782.31. Data on housing starts and building permits for April are due at 8:30 a.m. ET. Data on industrial production and capacity utilization for April will be released at 9:15 a.m. ET. Home Depot HD reported its FQ1 earnings at $0.50 per share, up from $0.43 per share, in the year-earlier period. Hewlett-Packard Co will now release its Q2 results before the market opens on Tuesday, after a leaked memo from Chief Executive Leo Apotheker. The company was scheduled to report its earnings on Wednesday. According to a memo obtained by Bloomberg News, CEO Leo Apotheker warned of “another tough quarter” in the company's third quarter. Saks Inc SKS is estimated to post its Q1 EPS at $0.16 on revenue of $724.46 million. Wal-Mart Stores Inc is expected to post its Q1 EPS at $0.95 on revenue of $103.02 billion. TJX Companies TJX is projected to report its Q1 earnings at $0.80 per share on revenue of $5.18 billion. Dell Inc DELL is projected to post its Q1 EPS at $0.43 on revenue of $15.40 billion. Analog Devices Inc ADI is expected to post its Q2 EPS at $0.68 on revenue of $746.15 million. Urban Outfitters Inc URBN reported weaker-than-expected Q1 net income, but the retailer's revenue topped expectations. The retailer posted its quarterly net income at $39 million, or $0.23 per share, down from $53 million, or $0.31 per share, in the year-ago period. Its revenue increased 9% to $524 million. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.25 per share on revenue of $523.3 million. The retailer's revenue from stores open at least a year dropped 5%. Asian markets ended mixed, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average gaining 0.09%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving up 0.61% and China's Shanghai Composite rising 0.13%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.26% and India's Sensex dipped 1.10%. European markets were higher today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index has gained 0.11%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved up 0.15%. ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment for Germany in May declined to 3.1, from 7.6 in April. The British pound gained 0.5% to $1.6283 after data depicted that UK CPI annual inflation in April surged to 4.5%, from 4.0% in March. Against the dollar, the euro rose 0.4% to $1.4202. The dollar surged 1.1% to 81.66 yen versus the Japanese yen. Read more from Benzinga's Markets.