US Stock Futures Down As China Hikes Reserve Requirement Ratio

US stock futures are lower this morning, as China lifted the reserve requirement ratio for banks by 50 basis points. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 33 points to 11,143.00, while S&P 500 index futures lost 3.70 points to 1,194.00. Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 6.50 points to 2,127.75. US stocks closed higher, with the Dow index gaining 1.57%. US Federal Reserve board Chairman Ben Bernanke defended the quantitative-easing program at a conference organized by the European Central Bank in Frankfurt. Shares of Dell Inc DELL gained more than 4% after the company reported its Q3 income at $0.42 per share, up from $0.17 per share, in the year-ago period. DELL's adjusted income came in at $0.45 per share. The company's revenue increased to $15.4 billion from $12.9 billion. HJ Heinz Co HNZ is estimated to report its Q2 EPS at $0.76 on revenue of $2.67 billion. AnnTaylor Stores Corp ANN is expected to post its EPS at $0.34 on revenue of $492.78 million in the third-quarter. America's Car-Mart Inc CRMT is projected to post its Q2 earnings at $0.65 per share on revenue of $91.19 million. Negative sentiments ruled the European markets today. While STOXX Europe 600 Index has lost 0.78%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved down 0.91%. Asian markets ended mixed, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average adding 0.09%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving down 0.11% and China's Shanghai Composite gaining 0.80%. The dollar index (DXY) lost 0.50% to 78.23. Against the US dollar, the euro gained 0.4618% to $1.3706. Read more from Benzinga's Markets.