US Stock Futures Signal Higher Start On Wall Street

US stock futures are higher this morning. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average index gained 21 points to 11,530.00, while those for the S&P 500 index gained 2.7 points to 1,256.80. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index moved up 7.75 points to 2,233.25. US stock markets closed mixed yesterday, with the Dow Industrials gaining 0.18%, the S&P 500 rising 0.08% and the Nasdaq Composite Index dropping 0.16%. No major economic data are due for Wednesday. Allstate Corp ALL sued Countrywide Financial Corp and Bank of America Corp BAC, with a $700 million investment in residential mortgage-backed securities. European markets were mixed today. While STOXX Europe 600 Index has advanced 0.36%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved down 0.18%. Asian markets ended in the positive territory, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average adding 0.50%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving up 0.07% and China's Shanghai Composite gaining 0.68%. Gold futures for February delivery gained $22.70 to $1,405.60 an ounce on Tuesday. Crude-oil futures for February delivery lost $0.36 to $91.13 per barrel. The US dollar moved down, falling 0.1% against the euro and down 0.3% versus the Japanese yen. Read more from Benzinga's Markets.