US Stock Futures Up; All Eyes On Obama, Bernanke

US stock futures are higher this morning, as investors are awaiting speeches from President Barack Obama and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and a meeting of the European Central Bank. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 28 points to 11,443.00 and S&P 500 index futures rose 3.30 points to 1,202.30. Nasdaq 100 futures gained 11.25 points to 2,233.25.

US stocks closed higher on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average surging 2.47% to 11,414.86, the S&P 500 index rising 2.86% to 1,198.62 and the Nasdaq 100 index jumping 3.04% to 2,548.94.

Data on weekly jobless claims will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will give a speech at 1:30 p.m. ET. President Obama will give his speech on jobs to Congress at 7:00 p.m. ET.

ABM Industries Incorporated (NYSE: ABM) is expected to report its Q3 EPS at $0.47 on revenue of $1.10 billion. Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc (NASDAQ: ULTA) is projected to report its Q2 EPS at $0.32 on revenue of $384.18 million.

John Wiley & Sons Inc (NYSE: JW-A) is projected to report its FQ1 earnings at $0.75 per share on revenue of $428.13 million. United Natural Foods Inc (NASDAQ: UNFI) is expected to report its Q4 EPS at $0.43 on revenue of $1.15 billion. Titan Machinery Inc (NASDAQ: TITN) is projected to report its Q2 EPS at $0.26 on revenue of $293.04 million.

Men's Wearhouse Inc (The) (NYSE: MW) reported around 33% rise in its second-quarter net income. The company's earnings rose to $57.1 million, or $1.09 per share, from $43 million, or $0.81 per share, in year-ago quarter. Excluding one-time items, the company's earnings came in at $1.11 per share. Men's Wearhouse revenue climbed 22% to $655.5 million. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $1.04 per share on revenue of $643.6 million. For the full fiscal year, Men's Wearhouse projects earnings of $2.07 to $2.14 per share. Excluding one-time items, it projects earnings of $2.13 to $2.20 per share, versus analysts' estimates of $2.14 per share.

G-III Apparel Group Ltd (NASDAQ: GIII) reported a decline in its second-quarter profit and lowered its profit projections for the year. European markets were higher today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index rose 0.90%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved up 0.82%, French CAC 40 index rose 1.13% and German DAX 30 index gained 1.05%.

Asian markets ended mostly higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average surging 0.3390%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving up 0.16% and China's Shanghai Composite dropping 0.68%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.6743% and India's Sensex gained 0.59%.

Gold for December delivery surged $19.40 to $1,837 an ounce in electronic trading on Globex.

The euro dropped 0.22% versus the dollar to trade at $1.4067, down from $1.4093 in North American trade late Wednesday, ahead of a meeting of the European Central Bank.