Futures turn higher after jobs report

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- U.S. stocks futures erased earlier losses and moved higher Tuesday morning, following a better-than-expected report on private sector job growth.

Dow Jones industrial average (INDU), S&P 500 (SPX) and Nasdaq (COMP) futures all turned higher. Futures measure current index values against perceived future performance.

Stocks closed lower Tuesday, trimming some of the previous session's big gains, as disappointing reports on housing and consumer spending gave way to concerns about the strength of the economic recovery.

"The focus will remain on economic data," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Avalon Partners. "Markets want to move higher. "If today's economic numbers are friendly, the markets will respond in a positive way."

Economy: Investors first welcomed payroll processor ADP's report on private sector employment in July, which showed a growth for a sixth straight month.

ADP said private-sector employers added 42,000 jobs to their payrolls in June, following an upwardly revised 19,000 increase in June. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com expected employers to add 25,000 jobs last month.

Traders will analyze the Institute for Supply Management's services sector index later in the morning.

The ISM services index is forecast to slip to a reading of 53 from 53.8 the month before. Any reading over 50 indicates expansion in the sector.

Companies: BP (BP) said Wednesday that the Gulf of Mexico Mocondo well "appears to have reached a static condition -- a significant milestone," as a result of a procedure carried out Tuesday. Shares of the British oil giant were down 2% in pre-market trading.

Barnes & Noble (BKS, Fortune 500) put itself up for sale late Tuesday. The board of directors believes the bookseller's shares are "significantly undervalued." The company has hired financial advisor Lazard to explore "strategic alternatives," which may include selling the company. Shares were up 27% in premarket trading.

On the earnings front, Toyota Motor (TM) said that it swung to a profit in its latest quarter and boosted its full-year sales outlook. Shares rose 1% in premarket trading.

Time Warner (TWX, Fortune 500), the parent company of CNNMoney.com and Fortune, posted earnings of 49 cents per share on revenue of $6.4 billion, topping the consensus forecasts of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters. The media company also raised its outlook for earnings growth for all of 2010.

World markets: European markets were lower at midday, with Britain's FTSE 100 down 1.1%. Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 also fell.

In Asia, Japan's Nikkei sank 2.1%, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong and the Shanghai Composite rose more than 0.4%.

Currencies and commodities: The dollar neared a 15-year low against the Japanese yen, but gained ground versus the euro and the British pound.

U.S. light crude oil for September delivery fell 11 cents to $82.44 a barrel.

COMEX gold's December contract rose $10.30 to $1,197.80 per ounce.

Bonds: Treasury prices mostly rose, pushing the yield on the 10-year note down to 2.89% from 2.91% late Tuesday. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.