US Stock Futures Up; Payrolls Data In Focus

US stock futures are higher this morning, as investors are awaiting nonfarm payrolls data. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 40 points to 13,315.00 and S&P 500 index futures rose 5.80 points to 1,436.80. Nasdaq 100 futures gained 10.50 points to 2,836.00. US stocks closed higher on Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 1.87% to 13,292.00, the S&P 500 index surging 2.04% to 1,432.12 and the Nasdaq 100 index jumping 2.17% to 3,135.81. The Labor Department is scheduled to release the employment report at 8:30 a.m. ET. Brady BRC is projected to report its Q4 earnings at $0.52 per share on revenue of $327.18 million. The Kroger Co KR is estimated to report its Q2 EPS at $0.49 on revenue of $21.91 billion. Lululemon Athletica LULU is projected to report its Q2 earnings at $0.31 per share on revenue of $282.34 million. Dell DELL reported that its board of directors approved a quarterly dividend of $0.08 per share. Smith & Wesson SWHC lifted its forecast for the fiscal year. Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance ULTA reported upbeat second-quarter profit. Infoblox BLOX issued downbeat earnings forecast for the full year. European markets were higher today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index rose 0.55%, French CAC 40 index gained 1.20%. London's FTSE 100 Index moved up 0.26% and German DAX 30 index rose 0.75%. Asian markets ended higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average gaining 2.20%, China's Shanghai Composite rising 3.70% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving up 0.40%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained 3.09% and India's Sensex rose 1.95%. Nymex crude-oil futures gained $0.35 to trade at $95.88 a barrel in electronic trade, while gold futures declined $6.90 to $1,698.70 an ounce. The dollar index (DXY) declined 0.26% to 80.91. The euro gained 0.5% against the dollar to trade at $1.2688. The US dollar gained 0.1% versus the Japanese yen to trade at ¥78.97.