U.S. stock futures are higher ahead of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's semi-annual report on monetary policy and the economy at 10 a.m. ET.
S&P 500 futures are higher by 6.75 points, or 0.5 percent, to 1354.25 as traders speculate that Bernanke will hint at more easing. The Nasdaq 100 contract is up 14.75 points, or 0.57 percent, to 2586.
European indexes are mixed. The FTSE 100 is lower by 0.25 percent, but the German DAX is higher by 0.54 percent.
Asian indexes were mixed as well, with Japan's Nikkei 225 higher by 0.35 percent but the Topix lower by 0.4 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 1.75 percent and the Shanghai Composite 0.62 percent after the Chinese government announced that it will increase railway infrastructure spending.
Currency markets are quiet, with the euro/dollar up this morning by 0.07 percent to 1.2294. The U.S. Dollar Index is lower by 0.02 percent to 83.205 as of this writing.
Crude oil futures climbed to their highest level in a month to 88.82 before setting back to 88.74, a gain of 0.34 percent. Copper futures are marginally higher at 3.4875, up 0.07 percent. Spot gold is up 0.04 percent to 1592.50.
In company-specific news, shares of Yahoo are up about 2 percent in pre-market trading after the company named former Google executive Marissa Mayer as the CEO.
Goldman Sachs is up more than 2.5 percent after beating earnings forecasts this morning.
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