US Stock Futures Up Ahead Of Factory-Orders Data

US stock futures are higher this morning, as investors are awaiting factory-orders data. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 31 points to 12,545.00 and futures on the S&P 500 stock index rose 1.70 points to 1,336.50. Nasdaq 100 futures gained 10.00 points to 2,365.25. US stocks closed higher on Friday, with the Dow Jones industrial average gaining 1.36% to 12,582.77, the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index rising 1.44% to 1,339.67 and the NASDAQ composite index surging 1.53% to 2,816.03. Data on May factory orders will be released at 10 a.m. ET. The New York Times Company NYT sold more than half of its minority ownership in the Boston Red Sox. Whirlpool Corp WHR said that the United States District Court of Delaware had expanded a jury decision that said certain LG refrigerators had infringed on Whirlpool Corporation's patented technology. Exxon Mobil Corp XOM estimated that between 750 to 1,000 barrels of oil may have leaked into the Yellowstone River in Montana from a damaged pipeline. The Reserve Bank of Australia board left its key interest rate on hold and trimmed its growth forecast for 2011. Asian markets ended mixed, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average gaining 0.1025%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving down 0.29% and China's Shanghai Composite surging 0.13%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.0989% and India's Sensex dropped 0.38%. European markets were mostly higher today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index has gained 0.30%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved up 0.22%, German DAX 30 index rose 0.27% and France CAC 40 index fell 0.16%. Growth in Britain's services sector rose marginally in June. Sweden's central bank lifted its repo rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 2%. The euro fell 0.5% against the dollar to trade at $1.4470. The dollar index (DXY) rose 0.3% to 74.507. Crude oil for August delivery climbed $0.55 to $95.54 a barrel in electronic trading on Globex. Gold futures for August delivery gained $17.50 to $1,499.90 an ounce.