US Stock Futures Up As Investors Await Jobless-Claims Data

US stock futures are higher this morning as investors are awaiting weekly jobless-claims data. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 32 points to 11,696.00 and S&P 500 index futures gained 3.90 points to 1,275.70. Nasdaq 100 futures gained 6.75 points to 2,276.50. The blue-chip Dow index closed up 31.71 points, or 0.27% yesterday. A report on weekly jobless claims will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Wal-Mart Stores Inc WMT and Macy's Inc M are all set to report their December same-store sales. Wall Street expects Constellation Brands STZ to report its FQ3 EPS at $0.62. Analysts are expecting Monsanto MON to have earned $0.02 per share in the fiscal first-quarter. Ruby Tuesday Inc RT reported its FQ2 earnings at $0.07 per share, up from $0.01 per share, in the year-ago period. The company's revenue surged 6% y/y to $290.5 million. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.05 per share on revenue of $279 million. Positive sentiment ruled the European markets today. While STOXX Europe 600 Index has advanced 0.82%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved up 0.69%. Mostly Asian markets ended in the positive territory, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average adding 1.44%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving up 0.21% and China's Shanghai Composite dropping 0.51%. The euro dropped 0.5% to $1.3100. The dollar index (DXY) gained 0.22% to 80.44. Gold futures were trading at $1,372.90 an ounce, while oil futures fell $0.35 to $89.95 per barrel. Read more from Benzinga's Markets.