U.S. equity and commodity futures follow European and Asian indexes higher ahead of weekly jobless claims at 8:30 a.m. ET.
S&P 500 futures are up 5 points, or 0.37 percent, to 1372.25 after trading as high as 1375 as of this writing despite a poor quarterly report by Morgan Stanley this morning. If the current risk-on scenario continues, the 1375-1380 level in the S&P 500 futures will be the next area of resistance.
Nasdaq 100 contracts are higher by 14 points, or 0.53 percent, to 2634. Earnings reports last night by IBM, eBay, and Qualcomm are helping to spark investor confidence in the tech-heavy NDX.
European indexes are positive as well. The German DAX is higher by 1 percent, the Euro STOXX 50 is gaining 0.79 percent, and the U.K. FTSE 100 is up 0.29 percent.
Asian indexes also participated in the global rally. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index added 1.66 percent, and the Nikkei 225 rose 0.79 percent.
Currency markets are favoring the euro and moving away from the dollar, sending the 30-year Treasury bond lower. The euro/dollar is up 0.33 percent to 1.2312.
Commodity markets are performing well because of the dollar's weakness. Crude-oil futures are up 1.37 points, or 1.52 percent, to 91.55. Boosted by the strength in Asia, copper futures have moved over the 3.50 resistance level to 3.528, a gain of 1.54 percent. Spot gold futures are higher by 17 points, or 1.16 percent, to 1588.80.
In stock-specific news, Morgan Stanley is down more than 4.5 percent after its disappointing earnings release. That has been offset by the positive tech news, as IBM is up 2.7 percent, eBay 7.3 percent, and Qualcomm 5.3 percent in pre-market trading. Apple is up nearly 0.7 percent, back above the $610 mark.
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