US Stock Futures Slightly Up; Economic Data In Focus

US stock futures are slightly higher this morning, as investors are awaiting economic data. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 33 points to 11,117.00 and S&P 500 index futures rose 4.00 points to 1,172.50. Nasdaq 100 futures gained 3.75 points to 2,161.75. US stocks closed higher on Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average surging 3.95% to 11,143.31, the S&P 500 index rising 4.63% to 1,172.64 and the Nasdaq 100 index jumping 4.69% to 2,492.68. Data on July retail sales will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The Thomson Reuters and University of Michigan's August index of consumer sentiment will be released at 9:55 a.m. ET, and data on June business inventories will be released at 10 a.m. ET. J.C. Penney Company Inc JCP is projected to report its Q2 EPS at $0.06 on revenue of $3.91 billion. Nordstrom Inc JWN reported its second-quarter profit at $175 million, or $0.80 per share, on revenue of $2.72 billion. However, analysts were expecting net income of $0.74 per share on revenue of $2.72 billion. NVIDIA Corp NVDA reported better-than-expected quarterly results. The company reported its second-quarter adjusted income at $0.32 per share on revenue of $1 billion. However, analysts were expecting net income of $0.25 per share on revenue of $1 billion. Molycorp Inc MCP swung to a net profit in the second quarter. Molycorp reported its quarterly net income at $48.8 million, or $0.52 per share, versus a loss of $23.3 million, or $0.47 per share, in the year-ago period. Its revenue jumped to $99.6 million, from $1.9 million. However, analysts were expecting a profit of $0.39 per share on revenue of $98.4 million. European markets were higher today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index gained 1.9%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved up 1.34%, French CAC 40 index rose 1.23% and German DAX 30 index gained 1.95%. According to government data, the French economy stagnated in the June quarter. Asian markets ended mixed, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average dropping 0.2918%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving up 0.82% and China's Shanghai Composite gaining 0.45%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.13% and India's Sensex declined 1.22%. The dollar index (DXY) fell 0.04% to 74.56. The euro rose 0.3% versus the greenback to trade at $1.4251.