US Stock Futures Down As Oil Prices Advance, GM Earnings In Focus

US stock futures are lower this morning, as oil prices continued to surge. Investors are also awaiting earnings from General Motors Co GM. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 40 points to 12,054.00 and S&P 500 stock futures fell 6.10 points to 1,299.40. Nasdaq 100 futures declined 12.25 points to 2,291.25. US stocks dropped sharply on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipping 107.01 points or 0.88%. Data on weekly jobless claims and January durable-goods orders will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. However, data on new-home sales for January is due at 10 a.m. ET. Shares of Priceline.com Inc PCLN surged about 4.8% in pre-market trading after the company issued upbeat Q1 earnings guidance. PCLN reported its Q4 net income at $135.7 million, or $2.66 per share, versus $78.5 million, or $1.55 per share, in the year-earlier period. The company's revenue surged 35% to $731.3 million. However, analysts expected earnings at $3.10 per share on revenue of $736.14 million. Sears Holdings SHLD reported its Q4 adjusted EPS at $3.67, versus the consensus of $3.57. SHLD reported its Q4 revenue at $13.14 billion, versus the consensus of $12.97 billion. American International Group AIG is projected to report a Q4 loss of $16.98 per share on revenue of $13.99 billion. Target Corp TGT is expected to post its Q4 earnings at $1.40 per share on revenue of $20.78 billion. General Motors Co is projected to report its Q4 EPS at $0.46 on revenue of $34.11 billion. Salesforce.com Inc CRM is expected to post its Q4 EPS at $0.26 per share on revenue of $452.69 million. Negative sentiment ruled the European markets today. While STOXX Europe 600 Index has dropped 0.59%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved down 0.27%. Most Asian markets ended lower, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average dropping 1.19%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dropping 0.70% and China's Shanghai Composite gaining 0.56%. Crude for April delivery surged $2.85 to $100.95 per barrel in electronic trading on Globex, The dollar dropped 0.8% against the yen to ¥81.79, while the euro gained 0.3% to $1.3793. Read more from Benzinga's Markets.