US Stock Futures Up; Apple Earnings, Economic Data In Focus

US stock futures are higher this morning, as investors are awaiting economic data. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 37 points to 12,908.00 and S&P 500 index futures rose 4.60 points to 1,367.30. Nasdaq 100 futures gained 12 points to 2,662.25. US stocks closed lower on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping 0.78% to 12,927.17, the S&P 500 index falling 0.84% to 1,366.94 and the Nasdaq 100 index dropping 1% to 2,970.45. Data on Case-Shiller home prices for February will be released at 9 a.m. ET. The consumer confidence index for April and new home sales for March will be released at 10 a.m. ET. 3M Co MMM is expected to post its Q1 EPS at $1.49 on revenue of $7.49 billion. Apple Inc AAPL is estimated to post its quarterly EPS at $10.06 on revenue of $36.81 billion. Nabors Industries Ltd NBR is projected to post its Q1 EPS at $0.50 on revenue of $1.80 billion. United States Steel Corp X is projected to post its Q1 EPS at $0.45 on revenue of $4.95 billion. The Hershey Company HSY is expected to post its Q1 EPS at $0.81 on revenue of $1.66 billion. United Technologies Corp UTX is estimated to post its Q1 EPS at $1.20 on revenue of $12.71 billion. Reynolds American Inc RAI is projected to post its Q1 EPS at $0.65 on revenue of $1.98 billion. The Western Union Company WU is estimated to post its Q1 EPS at $0.40 on revenue of $1.37 billion. International Game Technology IGT is expected to post its Q2 EPS at $0.25 on revenue of $517.44 million. Illinois Tool Works Inc ITW is projected to post its Q1 EPS at $0.95 on revenue of $4.60 billion. Lexmark International Inc LXK is estimated to post its Q1 EPS at $1.04 on revenue of $986.38 million. Netflix Inc NFLX reported a loss for the first quarter. Texas Instruments Inc TXN reported upbeat first-quarter earnings. European markets were higher today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index gained 0.73%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved up 0.46%, French CAC 40 index rose 0.91% and German DAX 30 index gained 0.81%. Asian markets ended mostly higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average declining 0.78%, China's Shanghai Composite rising 0.01% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving up 0.08%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained 0.26% and India's Sensex rose 0.65%. Crude oil futures for June delivery gained $0.07 to $103.18 a barrel. However, gold futures for June delivery climbed $6.30 to $1,638.90 an ounce. The ICE dollar index (DXY) dropped 0.04% to trade at 79.34, versus 79.406 in late North American trading Monday.