US Stock Futures Signal Steady Open On Wall Street

US stock futures are mostly flat this morning. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1 point to 12,218.00 and futures on the S&P 500 stock index rose 1.40 points to 1,258.80. Nasdaq 100 futures gained 2.25 points to 2,279.50.

US stocks closed higher on Thursday, with the Dow Jones industrial average surging 1.12% to 12,287.04, the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index rising 1.07% to 1,263.02 and the NASDAQ composite index gaining 0.92% to 2,613.74.

AMR Corp (NYSE: AMR) reported that its stock will be dropped from the New York Stock Exchange. AMR filed for bankruptcy protection last month.

Fitch Ratings cut the long-term default ratings of Sears Holdings Corp (NASDAQ: SHLD) from B to CCC.

Patterson-UTI Energy Inc (NASDAQ: PTEN) announced its plans to retire around 10% of its drilling rigs in December.

Asian markets ended mostly higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rising 0.6045% and China's Shanghai Composite gaining 1.19%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 0.1982% and India's Sensex dropped 0.57%.

European markets were mostly lower today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index has gained 0.05%, London's FTSE 100 index fell 0.30%, German DAX 30 index dropped 0.18% and France CAC 40 index declined 0.09%.

Nymex crude-oil futures gained $0.34 to $99.99 a barrel in electronic trading.

The dollar index (DXY) fell 0.01% to trade at 80.42.