LONDON -- Stock index futures at 7 a.m. EDT indicate that the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI +0.63%) may open up by a nominal eight points this morning, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC +1.02%) may open 1.5 points higher. CNN's Fear & Greed Index rose to 61 on Tuesday, firmly in "greed" territory, as the S&P registered a new record closing high and the Nasdaq finished at its highest level for 12 years.
In Europe, most markets are closed for a public holiday today, but the FTSE 100 is 0.64% higher. The U.K.'s monthly manufacturing PMI rose to 49.8 in April from 48.6 in March, showing that the rate of contraction is slowing, but in China, the official manufacturing PMI showed an unexpected slowdown in April, dropping to 50.6 from 50.9 in March.
In the U.S., today sees the first of three sets of job data due this week. Today's ADP private-sector employment report is due at 8:15 a.m. EDT and is expected to show that 150,000 private-sector jobs were created in April, down from 158,000 in March. At 10 a.m. EDT, look out for April's ISM manufacturing survey and March's construction-spending report, while at 2 p.m. EDT, the Federal Reserve is due to issue its monthly statement, which will be closely watched for clues as to the FOMC's future policy direction.
As earnings season continues, one of the first big names of the day was Time Warner, which reported a 22% year-over-year increase in adjusted earnings per share to $0.82, beating analysts' expectations of $0.75 per share. Humana reported a 98% rise in its first-quarter EPS to $2.95. Meanwhile, Coventry Health Care reported a 5% fall in revenue and a 17% drop in first-quarter earnings from $1.20 per share in Q1 2012 to $1 in Q1 2013. Merck is also due to report before the open, as are Comcast, Mastercard, Devon Energy, Rowan, Allstate, CVS, and Viacom, among others.
Facebook stock may be actively traded today, as the social-media giant is due to report its first-quarter earnings after the closing bell. A JPMorgan forecast suggests earnings of $0.12 per share on revenue of $1.27 billion, driven by growth in mobile revenue. DreamWorks was 7.4% higher in premarket trading after issuing strong results after the close last night.
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