US Stock Futures Flat; Trade Data, Moody's Earnings In Focus

US stock futures are mostly flat this morning, as investors are awaiting trade data. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 3 points to 13,901.00 and S&P 500 index futures rose 0.30 points to 1,505.60. Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 2.75 points to 2,745.00. US stocks closed lower on Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping 0.30% to 13,944.05, the S&P 500 index falling 0.18% to 1,509.39 and the Nasdaq 100 index declining 0.11% to 3,165.13. Data on international trade gap for December will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, while data on wholesale inventories for December will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings AXL is expected to report its Q4 earnings at $0.10 per share on revenue of $729.35 million. Beacon Roofing Supply BECN is projected to report its Q1 earnings at $0.41 per share on revenue of $525.50 million. AOL AOL is estimated to report its Q4 earnings at $0.41 per share on revenue of $573.71 million. Entergy ETR is expected to report its Q4 earnings at $1.40 per share on revenue of $3.13 billion. Belo BLC is projected to report its Q4 earnings at $0.33 per share on revenue of $203.93 million. Carlisle Companies CSL is estimated to report its Q4 earnings at $0.78 per share on revenue of $826.60 million. Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings LH is estimated to report its Q4 earnings at $1.62 per share on revenue of $1.39 billion. Moody's MCO is estimated to report its Q4 earnings at $0.69 per share on revenue of $683.34 million. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LP BIP is expected to report its Q4 earnings at $0.32 per share on revenue of $504.40 million. LinkedIn LNKD reported upbeat fourth-quarter results. Coinstar CSTR reported weaker-than-expected Q4 revenue and issued downbeat Q1 forecast. European markets were mostly higher today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index rose 0.37%, London's FTSE 100 Index gained 0.39%, German DAX 30 Index rose 0.01% and French CAC 40 Index climbed 0.43%. Asian markets ended mostly higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average falling 1.80%, China's Shanghai Composite gaining 0.57% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index rising 0.68%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index climbed 0.16% and India's Sensex fell 0.49%. China's exports surged 25% y/y, versus a 14.1% y/y rise in December. The country's imports climbed 28.8%, versus a 6% rise in the previous month. The euro gained 0.13% versus the dollar to trade at $1.3415, up from $1.3392. The dollar dropped 1.12% against the Japanese yen to trade at ¥ 92.5850, down from ¥93.41.