US Stock Futures Signal Higher Start On Wall Street

US stock futures are higher this morning, after upbeat Chinese growth data. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 63 points to 12,476.00 and futures on the S&P 500 stock index rose 7.90 points to 1,318.60. Nasdaq 100 futures gained 17.25 points to 2,361.75. US stocks closed lower on Tuesday, with the Dow Jones industrial average dipping 0.47% to 12,446.88, the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index dropping 0.44% to 1,313.64 and the NASDAQ composite index declining 0.74% to 2,781.91. Data on import prices will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is scheduled to testify before the US House of Representatives. Yum! Brands Inc YUM is projected to report its Q2 EPS at $0.61 on revenue of $2.70 billion. Marriot International MAR is projected to report its Q2 EPS at $0.37 on revenue of $3.02 billion. Electronic Arts Inc ERTS announced its plans to buy PopCap Games for at least $750 million. EA will pay $650 million in cash and $100 million in common shares. EA also issued downbeat Q2 projections. UDR Inc UDR raised its projections for full-year funds from operations. UDR agreed to pay $687 million for two home communities in New York and one in Washington D.C. UDR also announced its plans to sell 15 million shares in a public offering. China's economy expanded 9.5% in the April-to-June quarter from a year earlier. Economists were expecting a growth of 9.4%. Asian markets ended higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average gaining 0.3833%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving up 0.43% and China's Shanghai Composite jumping 1.48%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index surged 1.2174% and India's Sensex rose 0.81%. European markets were mostly higher today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index has gained 0.08%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved up 0.45%, German DAX 30 index rose 0.54% and France CAC 40 index dipped 0.07%. Moody's Investors Service downgraded Ireland's credit rating to junk status. The euro gained 0.9% versus the dollar to trade at $1.4099. The dollar index (DXY) dipped 0.7% to 75.537. Gold for August delivery gained $9.50 to $1,571.80 an ounce in electronic trading on Globex. Crude oil for August delivery surged $0.32 to $97.75 a barrel.