US Stock Futures Up As Investors Await Earnings Reports

US stock futures are higher this morning, after strong rise in the Dow Industrials in the previous session. Investors are awaiting another round of earnings reports. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 23 points to 11,996.00, while those for the S&P 500 index rose 1.7 points to 1,304.40. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index gained 0.25 point to 2,322.75. US stocks closed higher, with the Dow gaining 148.23 points or 1.25% to close at 12,040.16 yesterday. The ADP employment report for the private sector will be released at 8:15 a.m. ET. Shares of Electronic Arts Inc ERTS surged about 10.8% in pre-market trading after the company reported a FQ3 loss of $322 million, or $0.97 per share, versus a loss of $82 million, or $0.25 per share, in the year-earlier period. Excluding one-time items, EA reported earnings at $0.59 per share. The company's revenue dropped to $1.1 billion from $1.2 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.58 per share on revenue of $1.38 billion. EA issued upbeat projections for its current quarter and also announced its plans to repurchase up to $600 million in company stock. Time Warner TWX is expected to report its Q4 EPS at $0.62 on revenue of $7.47 billion. News Corp NWS is expected to report its Q2 EPS at $0.27 on revenue of $8.71 billion. Visa V is expected to report its Q1 earnings at $1.20 per share on revenue of $2.22 billion. Allergan AGN is projected to report its Q4 earnings at $0.89 per share on revenue of $1.25 billion. Marathon Oil MRO is estimated to report its Q4 EPS at $0.97 on revenue of $17.65 billion. Hershey HSY is expected to report its Q4 earnings at $0.61 per share on revenue of $1.48 billion. Yum! Brands Inc YUM is expected to report its Q4 EPS at $0.60 on revenue of $3.50 billion. Mattel MAT reported its Q4 EPS at $0.89, beating the consensus of $0.86. MAT reported its Q4 revenue at $2.12 billion, versus the consensus of $2.09 billion. Positive sentiment ruled the European markets today. While STOXX Europe 600 Index has gained 0.25%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved up 0.86%. Asian markets ended higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average gaining 1.78% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rising 0.95%. Crude-oil futures gained $0.16 to $90.93 a barrel in electronic trading on Globex. Gold futures for April delivery dropped $2.70 to $1,377.60 an ounce. March copper futures were trading at $4.54 a pound. The US dollar dropped versus its major rivals. Read more from Benzinga's Markets.