US Stock Futures Up, All Eyes On Bernanke

US stock futures are slightly higher this morning. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 12 points to 15,367.00 and S&P 500 index futures rose 1.40 points to 1,667.00. Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 3 points to 3,024.50. US stocks closed higher on Tuesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 0.34% to 15,387.58, the S&P 500 index gaining 0.17% to 1,669.16 and the Nasdaq 100 index climbing 0.16% to 3,502.12. The MBA purchase applications index will be released at 7:00 a.m. ET, while data on existing home sales for April will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke will testify before the Joint Economic Committee of Congress at 10:00 a.m. ET. The EIA weekly report on petroleum inventories will be released at 10:30 a.m. ET, while the Federal Open Market Committee will release minutes of its latest meeting at 2:00 p.m. ET. Saks SKS has hired Goldman Sachs to explore strategic alternatives including a sale, the New York Post reported. NetApp NTAP announced its plans to cut 900 jobs. The company boosted its stock repurchase plan to $3 billion and also said that it will start paying a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share. American Eagle Outfitters AEO is expected to report its Q1 earnings at $0.17 per share on revenue of $678.41 million. Lowe's Companies LOW is projected to report its Q1 earnings at $0.51 per share on revenue of $13.46 billion. Citi Trends CTRN is estimated to report its Q1 earnings at $0.56 per share on revenue of $186.63 million. Staples SPLS is projected to report its Q1 earnings at $0.27 per share on revenue of $5.91 billion. Zale ZLC is estimated to post a Q3 loss at $0.02 per share on revenue of $443.83 million. Toll Brothers TOL is expected to report its Q2 earnings at $0.07 per share on revenue of $511.06 million. Target TGT is estimated to report its Q1 earnings at $0.87 per share on revenue of $16.82 billion. L Brands LTD is projected to post its Q1 earnings at $0.46 per share on revenue of $2.26 billion. PetSmart PETM is estimated to post its Q1 earnings at $0.96 per share on revenue of $1.72 billion. NetApp NTAP is expected to post its Q1 earnings at $0.68 per share on revenue of $1.76 billion. Hewlett-Packard Company HPQ is estimated to post its Q2 earnings at $0.81 per share on revenue of $28.12 billion. European markets were lower today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index fell 0.58%, London's FTSE 100 index dropped 0.29%, French CAC 40 Index declined 0.59% and German DAX 30 index fell 0.42%. Asian markets ended mostly lower, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average jumping 1.60%, China's Shanghai Composite falling 0.12% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index dropping 0.27%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.45% and India's Sensex dropped 0.25%.