Futures tied to the S&P 500 inched up 0.1%, Futures linked to the Nasdaq-100 rose by 1.9%, but Futures linked to the Dow Jones dropped by 0.1 %.

Johnson & Johnson shares slid 1.2% in premarket trading after it paused its coronavirus vaccine trials due to a participant becoming ill. This is the second time that a vaccine trial has been put on hold over an unexplained illness, after AstraZeneca last month.

Yesterday, US technology stocks boosted Wall Street, where quarterly corporate earnings are expected to be the next bullish catalyst. Third quarter results start to flow in from today on both sides of the Atlantic. There will be something for everyone. Lots of banks, airlines, luxury and health. No U.S. tech star yet - that's for next week - but as an appetizer today an Apple conference to present its first iPhone 5G. Apple's stock was back in the spotlight yesterday with a gain of more than 6%.

Now that we've touched on the topic of corporate results, let's take a look at what's in store for us between now and the end of the week. There will be 30 S&P500 companies releasing their quarterly results this week, from Johnson & Johnson to United Continental. In addition, there will be 22 companies from the STOXX Europe 600, from Roche Holdings to Entra ASA.

After three consecutive months of rising exports, China posted a 9.9% year-on-year increase in September. Imports are also increasing after declining in July and August. These increases are a good reflection of China's ongoing recovery, especially since it has a trade surplus of $37 billion.

Today is busy in terms of macroeconomic data, notably with German September inflation and British employment figures, the ZEW survey of German financial confidence and US September inflation. Early this morning, China reported less favorable foreign trade figures than expected in September.