US Stock Futures Slightly Up As Investors Await Jobless Claims Data

US stock futures are slightly higher this morning, as investors are awaiting jobless claims data. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 10 points to 12,296.00 and S&P 500 index futures rose 0.20 point to 1,324.10. Nasdaq 100 futures added 1.25 points to 2,335.75. US stocks closed higher on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbing 0.58% to 12,351, the S&P 500 index rising 0.67% to 1,328 and the Nasdaq 100 index gaining 0.72% to 2,777. The latest weekly jobless claims data will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The Chicago purchasing managers index for March and data on factory orders for February will be released later in the session. The nonfarm payrolls and the unemployment rate for March will be released on Friday. The Hershey Co HSY lifted wholesale prices by 9.7%, due to increase in its own costs. The company projects 2011 earnings to be at the top end of its earlier projections of $2.54 to $2.63 per share. Excluding various charges, the company expects earnings to be near the high end of $2.70 to $2.76 per share. Hershey projects 2011 sales near the high end of its earlier range of $5.84 billion to $5.95 billion. However, analysts projected adjusted earnings of $2.77 per share on sales of $5.93 billion for the year. CarMax Inc KMX is expected to report its Q4 EPS at $0.38 on revenue of $2.17 billion. Worthington Industries Inc WOR is estimated to report its Q3 EPS at $0.25 on revenue of $590.57 million. Global Payments Inc GPN is expected to report its Q3 EPS at $0.64 on revenue of $442.44 million. Robbins & Myers Inc RBN is projected to post its FQ2 EPS at $0.48 on revenue of $199.15 million. Lawson Software Inc LWSN is estimated to post its Q3 earnings at $0.13 per share on revenue of $194.15 million. Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc KKD is expected to report its Q4 EPS at $0.04 on revenue of $92.55 million. European markets were mixed today. While STOXX Europe 600 Index has dropped 0.51%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved up 0.02%. Most Asian markets ended higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average gaining 0.48%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving up 0.32% and China's Shanghai Composite dropping 0.94%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.32%. The euro gained 0.7% to $1.4215 against the dollar. However, the US dollar fell 0.4% versus the yen to ¥82.816. Light crude for May delivery gained $1.07 to $105.34 a barrel in electronic trading on Globex. Read more from Benzinga's Markets.