US Stock Futures Slightly Up; All Eyes On Bernanke

US stock futures are slightly higher this morning, as investors are awaiting a speech from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 28 points to 11,159.00 and S&P 500 index futures rose 4.10 points to 1,161.60. Nasdaq 100 futures gained 7 points to 2,118.00.

US stocks closed lower on Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipping 1.51% to 11,149.82, the S&P 500 index declining 1.56% to 1,159.27 and the Nasdaq 100 index dropping 1.95% to 2,419.63.

The Fed chief is scheduled to address international central bankers at an annual symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, at 1400 GMT. The second estimate for second quarter GDP will be released at 8:30 am ET. The final reading for August consumer sentiment will be released at 9:55 am ET.

Madison Square Garden Inc (NASDAQ: MSG) is projected to report its Q3 earnings at $0.14 per share on revenue of $214.33 million. Tiffany & Co (NYSE: TIF) is estimated to report its Q2 EPS at $0.70 on revenue of $785.35 million.

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts (NYSE: KKD) reported upbeat second-quarter results. The company's profit came in at $8.8 million, or $0.12 per share, on sales of $98 million. Excluding a one-time gain, the company's earnings came in at $0.06 per share. Analysts were expecting earnings of $0.06 per share on sales of $93.5 million.

Pandora Media Inc (NYSE: P) reported better-than-expected adjusted second-quarter earnings.

OmniVision Technologies Inc (NASDAQ: OVTI) reported a rise in its fiscal first-quarter profit, but issued downbeat second-quarter forecast.

European markets were lower today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index fell 0.48%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved down 0.38%, French CAC 40 index fell 0.55% and German DAX 30 index dropped 1.18%.

Asian markets ended mostly lower, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average surging 0.29%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving down 0.22% and China's Shanghai Composite dropping 0.12%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.8586% and India's Sensex dipped 1.75%.

Benchmark gold for December gained $25.70 to $1,788.80 per troy ounce.

The dollar index (DXY) declined 0.34% to 73.99, from 74.262 in North American trading late Thursday. The euro gained 0.37% versus the greenback to trade at $1.4432, from $1.4379 in North American trade late Thursday.