US Stock Futures Up Ahead Of Earnings, Economic Data

US stock futures are slightly higher this morning, as investors are awaiting earnings reports and retail-sales data. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 13 points to 12,848.00 and S&P 500 index futures rose 1.50 points to 1,350.60. Nasdaq 100 futures jumped 5 points to 2,572.75. US stocks closed higher on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining 0.57% to 12,874.04, the S&P 500 index rising 0.68% to 1,351.77 and the Nasdaq 100 index surging 0.95% to 2,931.39. Data on January retail sales and January import prices will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. MetLife Inc MET is expected to report its Q4 EPS at $1.24 on revenue of $16.9 billion. FMC Technologies Inc FTI is expected to post its Q4 EPS at $0.51 on revenue of $1.44 billion. Marsh & McLennan Comapnies MMC is projected to report its Q4 earnings at $0.46 per share on revenue of $2.94 billion. Host Hotels & Resorts Inc HST is projected to post its Q4 EPS at $0.31 on revenue of $1.65 billion. Avon Products Inc AVP is expected to post its Q4 earnings at $0.51 per share on sales of $3.10 billion. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company GT is projected to post its Q4 earnings at $0.20 per share on sales of $5.86 billion. Hospira Inc HSP is estimated to post its Q4 EPS at $0.45 on revenue of $954 million. Weight Watchers International Inc WTW is estimated to report its Q4 earnings at $0.87 per share on revenue of $412.1 million. HCP Inc HCP is projected to report its Q4 earnings at $0.38 per share on revenue of $450.5 million. Rackspace Hosting Inc RAX reported a surge in its fourth quarter profit and revenue. Masco Corp MAS reported a wider-than-expected fourth-quarter loss. Moody's Investors Service lowered the ratings of many European countries. European markets were higher today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index rose 0.80%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved up 0.14%, French CAC 40 index rose 0.34% and German DAX 30 index gained 0.56%. Asian markets ended mostly higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rising 0.59%, China's Shanghai Composite dropping 0.30% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving down 0.93%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained 0.15% and India's Sensex rose 0.43%. Crude-oil futures for March delivery gained $0.70 to $101.60 a barrel. Gold futures for April delivery declined $2.40 to $1,722.50 an ounce. The dollar index (DXY) dropped 0.12% to trade at 79.02, versus 78.963 in late North American trade on Monday.