US Stock Futures Up As Investors Await Economic Data, Crude Oil Jumps Above $106 a barrel

US stock futures are higher this morning, as investors are awaiting economic data. Crude oil prices surged above $106 a barrel. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 44 points to 12,065.00 and S&P 500 futures gained 5.50 points to 1,297.60. Nasdaq 100 futures jumped 16 points to 2,281.00. US stocks closed higher on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbing 0.56% to 12,086, the S&P 500 index rising 0.29% to 1,298 and the Nasdaq 100 index gaining 0.54% to 2,698. Data on weekly jobless claims and durable-goods orders for February will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Red Hat Inc RHT reported its Q4 adjusted earnings at $0.26 per share on revenue of $244.8 million. However, analysts were expecting earnings at $0.22 per share on revenue of $235.9 million. Micron Technology Inc MU reported its FQ2 net income at $72 million, or $0.07 per share, down from $365 million, or $0.39 per share, in the year-ago period. The company's revenue increased to $2.3 billion from $2 billion. However, analysts were projecting earnings at $0.03 per share on revenue of $2.1 billion. Accenture plc ACN is projected to report its FQ2 EPS at $0.71 on revenue of $5.72 billion. Best Buy Co Inc BBY is estimated to post its Q4 earnings at $1.85 per share on revenue of $16.29 billion. Oracle Corporation ORCL is projected to report its FQ3 EPS at $0.49 on revenue of $8.66 billion. ConAgra Foods Inc CAG is expected to report its Q3 earnings at $0.47 per share on revenue of $3.13 billion. Research In Motion Limited RIMM is projected to report its Q4 EPS at $1.75 on revenue of $5.63 billion. GameStop Corp GME is expected to post its Q4 EPS at $1.56 on revenue of $3.71 billion. Talbots Inc (The) TLB is estimated to post a Q4 loss at $0.17 per share on revenue of $294.71 million. Moody's Investors Service lowered the senior debt and deposit ratings of 30 Spanish banks by one or more notches. European Union (EU) leaders will meet in Brussels for a summit. Positive sentiment ruled the European markets today. While STOXX Europe 600 Index has gained 0.29%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved up 0.73%. Asian markets ended mixed, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average dropping 0.15%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving up 1.01% and China's Shanghai Composite falling 0.06%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.39% and India's Sensex climbed 0.80%. Nymex oil prices rose $0.89 to $106.64 a barrel in electronic trading on Globex. The euro gained versus the US dollar to trade at $1.4127. Read more from Benzinga's Markets.