US Stock Futures Up As Investors Await ADP Employment Report

US stock futures are higher this morning, as investors are awaiting ADP employment data. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 36 points to 12,261.00, and those for the S&P 500 index gained 4.80 points to 1,321.30. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index added 12.25 points to 2,334.75. US stocks closed higher on Tuesday, with the Dow Jones industrial average gaining 81 points to 12,279, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index rising 9 points to 1,319 and the Nasdaq Composite Index gaining 26 points to 2,757. The ADP employment report for March is due at 8:15 a.m. ET. Acuity Brands Inc AYI is expected to report its FQ2 EPS at $0.50 on revenue of $410.52 million. Family Dollar Stores Inc FDO is projected to post its Q2 earnings at $0.97 per share on revenue of $2.27 billion. Signet Jewelers Limited SIG is expected to report its Q4 EPS at $1.54 on revenue of $1.27 billion. Mosaic Company (The) MOS is estimated to report its Q3 EPS at $1.07 on revenue of $2.35 billion. Sealy Corp ZZ swung to a Q1 loss of $902,000, or $0.01 per share, from a profit of $5.7 million, or $0.06 per share, in the year-ago period. The company's adjusted earnings came in at $0.01 per share. ZZ's revenue dropped to $305.5 million from $311.9 million. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.03 per share. Valeant Pharmaceuticals International VRX made an unsolicited $5.7 billion offer to purchase Cephalon Inc CEPH. The $73-per-share offer represents a 24% premium over CEPH's closing share price of $58.75 on Tuesday. Tibco Software Inc TIBX reported its Q1 net income at $16 million, or $0.09 per share, up from $10.4 million, or $0.06 per share, in the year-earlier period. The company's revenue increased to $185.3 million from $155 million. Excluding one-time items, the company's earnings came in at $0.16 per share. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.15 per share on revenue of $182.5 million. Most Asian markets ended higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average surging 2.64%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gaining 1.27% and China's Shanghai Composite falling 0.08%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index climbed 1.70% and India's Sensex surged 169.38 points. Positive sentiment ruled the European markets today. While STOXX Europe 600 Index has gained 0.78%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved up 0.39%. Crude oil for May delivery dropped $0.35 to $104.44 a barrel. However, May gold futures gained $3.50 to $1,420.40 an ounce. The US dollar hit a more than a three-week high against the yen. The dollar gained 0.8% to ¥83.13 versus the yen. Read more from Benzinga's Markets.