US Stock Futures Up; All Eyes On Payroll Data - Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN), Brown & Brown (NYSE:BRO)

US stock futures are higher this morning, as investors are awaiting earnings nonfarm payrolls data. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 65 points to 13,862.00 and S&P 500 index futures rose 5.30 points to 1,498.50. Nasdaq 100 futures jumped 10.25 points to 2,735.25. US stocks closed lower on Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping 0.36% to 13,860.58, the S&P 500 index falling 0.26% to 1,498.11 and the Nasdaq 100 index declining 0.01% to 3,142.13. Data on nonfarm payroll employment for January will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, while the Markit flash PMI manufacturing index for January will be released at 8:58 a.m. ET. The Reuters/University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index for January will be released at 9:55 a.m. ET. The ISM manufacturing index for January and construction spending data for December will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Mattel (NASDAQ:

MAT

) is projected to report its Q4 earnings at $1.15 per share on revenue of $2.29 billion. Exxon Mobil (NYSE:

XOM

) is estimated to report its Q4 earnings at $2.00 per share on revenue of $115.22 billion. Merck & Co (NYSE:

MRK

) is estimated to report its Q4 earnings at $0.81 per share on revenue of $11.48 billion. Tyson Foods (NYSE:

TSN

) is expected to report its Q1 earnings at $0.40 per share on revenue of $8.61 billion. Chevron (NYSE:

CVX

) is projected to report its Q4 earnings at $3.04 per share on revenue of $68.64 billion. Newell Rubbermaid (NYSE:

NWL

) is expected to report its Q4 earnings at $0.42 per share on revenue of $1.52 billion. Brown & Brown (NYSE:

BRO

) is expected to post its Q4 earnings at $0.27 per share on revenue of $286.45 million. Legg Mason (NYSE:

) is projected to report a Q3 loss at $3.23 per share on revenue of $677.45 million. Franklin Resources (NYSE:

BEN

) is estimated to report its Q4 earnings at $2.38 per share on revenue of $1.90 billion. Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ:

WYNN

) reported a drop in its fourth-quarter profit. McKesson (NYSE:

MCK

) reported downbeat fiscal third-quarter earnings and narrowed its profit forecast for the fiscal year. European markets were higher today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index rose 0.38%, London's FTSE 100 Index gained 0.69%, German DAX 30 Index rose 0.72% and French CAC 40 Index surged 0.86%. Asian markets ended mostly higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rising 0.47%, China's Shanghai Composite surging 1.41% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index rising 0.83%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index declined 0.03% and India's Sensex dropped 0.57%. Japanese unemployment rate surged to 4.2% in December. However, economists were expecting jobless rate at 4.1%. The dollar index (DXY) dropped 0.28% to trade at 78.99. The dollar climbed 0.45% versus the Japanese yen to trade at ¥92.13. The euro gained 0.51% against the dollar to trade at $1.3648.

BENFranklin Resources Inc