US Stock Futures Down As Investors Await Earnings Reports

US stock futures are lower this morning, as investors are awaiting earnings reports. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 25 points to 12,482.00 and futures on the S&P 500 stock index fell 3.90 points to 1,317.40. Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 10.25 points to 2,371.50. US stocks closed lower on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones industrial average dropping 0.12% to 12,571.91, the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index declining 0.07% to 1,325.84 and the NASDAQ composite index dipping 0.43% to 2,814.23. Data on weekly jobless claims will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Data on June leading indicators, the July Philadelphia Fed business activity index and US house prices will be released at 10 a.m. ET. Philip Morris International Inc PM is expected to report its Q2 EPS at $1.22 on revenue of $7.80 billion. United Continental Holdings Inc UAL is estimated to report its Q2 EPS at $1.47 on revenue of $9.72 billion. Morgan Stanley MS to report a Q2 loss at $0.62 per share on revenue of $8.04 billion. New York Times Company (The) NYT is projected to report its Q2 EPS at $0.09 on revenue of $577.34 million. Advanced Micro Devices Inc AMD is expected to report its Q2 EPS at $0.08 on revenue of $1.58 billion. Pepsico Inc PEP is projected to report its Q2 EPS at $1.21 on revenue of $16.41 billion. Eli Lilly and Company LLY is projected to report its Q2 EPS at $1.17 on revenue of $5.99 billion. Microsoft Corporation MSFT is estimated to report its Q4 earnings at $0.58 per share on revenue of $17.25 billion. AT&T Inc T is estimated to report its Q2 EPS at $0.60 on revenue of $31.33 billion. Intel Corp INTC reported upbeat results for the second quarter and trimmed its 2011 forecast for personal computer unit sales. Intel's quarterly net income surged to $2.95 billion, or $0.54 per share, from $2.89 billion, or $0.51 per share, in the year-ago period. Excluding some expenses, Intel's earnings came in at $0.59 per share. Its revenue climbed 21% to $13.03 billion. Analysts were expecting earnings of $0.51 per share on revenue of $12.8 billion. eBay Inc EBAY reported upbeat results for the second quarter. EBAY's quarterly earnings dropped to $283.4 million, or $0.22 per share, from $412 million, or $0.31 per share, in the year-earlier period. Excluding one-time items, eBay's earnings came in at $0.48 per share. Its revenue surged 25% y/y to $2.76 billion from $2.22 billion. Analysts were expecting earnings of $0.46 per share on revenue of $2.60 billion. Express Scripts Inc ESRX agreed to buy Medco Health Solutions Inc MHS for $71.36 per share in cash and stock, or $29.1 billion. The HSBC/Markit flash purchasing managers index for China declined to 48.9 in July, from 50.1 in June. Asian markets ended mixed, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average gaining 0.0224%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving up 0.17% and China's Shanghai Composite dropping 1.01%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.0745% and India's Sensex dropped 0.36%. European markets were lower today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index has declined 0.65%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved down 0.87%, German DAX 30 index fell 0.74% and France CAC 40 index dropped 0.75%. Investors are awaiting the outcome of a summit meeting of European leaders later in the day. The euro fell 0.8% against the dollar to trade at $1.4156.