US Stock Futures Up Ahead Of Lowe's Earnings

US stock futures are higher this morning, as investors are awaiting earnings from Lowe's Companies LOW. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 47 points to 14,028.00 and S&P 500 index futures rose 5.90 points to 1,520.50. Nasdaq 100 futures gained 15.25 points to 2,751.00. US stocks closed higher on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average surging 0.86% to 14,000.57, the S&P 500 index rising 0.88% to 1,515.60 and the Nasdaq 100 index gaining 0.97% to 3,161.82. The Chicago Fed National Activity Index for January will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, while the Dallas Fed general business activity index for February will be released at 10:30 a.m. ET. Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Dennis Lockhard will speak on the economic outlook in Knoxville, Tenn. Lowe's Companies is projected to report its Q4 earnings at $0.23 per share on revenue of $10.84 billion. Hertz Global Holdings HTZ is estimated to report its Q4 earnings at $0.31 per share on revenue of $2.24 billion. Cooper Tire & Rubber Co CTB is projected to report its Q4 earnings at $0.85 per share on revenue of $1.03 million. Donaldson Company DCI is expected to report its Q2 earnings at $0.38 per share on revenue of $605.26 million. Autodesk ADSK is expected to post its Q4 earnings at $0.49 per share on revenue of $586.16 million. Titan International TWI is projected to post its Q4 earnings at $0.47 per share on revenue of $560.08 million. Kindred Healthcare KND is estimated to post its Q4 earnings at $0.43 per share on revenue of $1.57 billion. Stifel Financial SF is estimated to post its Q4 earnings at $0.60 per share on revenue of $418.40 million. General Cable BGC is estimated to report its Q4 earnings at $0.24 per share on revenue of $1.61 billion. Shanda Games GAME is estimated to post its Q4 earnings at $0.14 per share on revenue of $171.96 million. European markets were higher today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index rose 0.14%, London's FTSE 100 Index surged 1.20%, French CAC 40 Index rose 1.11% and German DAX 30 index gained 1.36%. Asian markets ended higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average gaining 2.43%, China's Shanghai Composite rising 0.50% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rising 0.71%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 0.17% and India's Sensex rose 0.08%. Gold for delivery in April surged $18 to $1,590.80 an ounce in electronic trading. The ICE dollar index (DXY) declined 0.16% to trade at 81.33, down from 81.454 in North America on Friday. The euro gained 0.18% versus the dollar to trade at $1.3241, versus $1.3182 late Friday.