US Stock Futures Up After Upbeat Apple Results; Jobless Claims Data In Focus

US stock futures are higher this morning, after upbeat results from Apple Inc AAPL. Investors are awaiting earnings reports from several companies and data on jobless claims. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 53 points to 12,449.00 and futures on the S&P 500 stock index rose 6.90 points to 1,335.20. Nasdaq 100 futures surged 21.50 points to 2,376.50. On Wednesday, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 1.52% to 12,453.54, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 1.35% to 1,330.36 and the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 2.10% to 2,802.51. Data on US weekly jobless claims will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Shares of Apple Inc gained about 4.1% in pre-market trading after the company reported a 95% jump in its FQ2 earnings. The company reported net income at $5.99 billion, or $6.40 per share, up from $3.07 billion, or $3.33 per share, in the year-ago period. The company's revenue surged 83% to $24.67 billion. However, analysts expected earnings of $5.35 per share on revenue of $23.3 billion. Apple projects earnings of $5.03 per share on revenue of $23 billion for the June quarter. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $5.25 per share on revenue of $23.8 billion. Advanced Micro Devices Inc AMD is expected to report its Q1 EPS at $0.05 on revenue of $1.61 billion. McDonald's Corp MCD is projected to post its Q1 EPS at $1.14 on revenue of $6.00 billion. General Electric Co GE is projected to post its Q1 EPS at $0.28 on revenue of $34.64 billion. EI DuPont de Nemours & Co DD is projected to report its Q1 earnings at $1.36 per share on revenue of $9.19 billion. Verizon Communications Inc VZ is expected to post its Q1 earnings at $0.50 per share on revenue of $26.89 billion. Morgan Stanley MS is estimated to post its Q1 earnings at $0.34 per share on revenue of $7.89 billion. Unitedhealth Group Inc UNH is estimated to report its Q1 EPS at $0.89 on revenue of $24.93 billion. Yum! Brands Inc YUM reported its Q1 profit at $264 million, or $0.54 per share, up from $241 million, or $0.50 per share, in the year-ago quarter. Excluding special items, the company's earnings came in at $0.63 per share. YUM's revenue increased 3% to $2.43 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.64 per share on revenue of $2.4 billion. Shares of Weatherford International Ltd WFT dropped about 2.7% in pre-market trading after the company reported weaker-than-expected Q1 earnings. Asian markets ended higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average gaining 0.82%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rising 1.12% and China's Shanghai Composite gaining 0.65%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 1.01%. Positive sentiment ruled the European markets today. While STOXX Europe 600 Index has gained 0.32%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved up 0.17%. Gold for June delivery gained $8.80 to $1,507.70 an ounce in electronic trading on Globex. June crude-oil futures rose $0.45 to $111.90 a barrel. The dollar dropped versus its major rivals. The dollar index (DXY) fell 0.8% to 73.773. The euro gained 0.9% to $1.4643 against the dollar. Read more from Benzinga's Markets.