U.S. stock futures are slightly higher this morning, as investors await earnings reports from many companies and economic data on weekly jobless claims. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 9 points to 11,945, while those for the S&P 500 rose 0.90 point to 1,295. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 rose 4.50 points to 2,323.

Abroad, positive sentiment ruled the European markets today. While STOXX Europe 600 Index has gained 0.25%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved up 0.22%.

Asian markets ended mostly higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average adding 0.74%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving down 0.04% and China's Shanghai Composite gaining 1.49%.

Piper Jaffray is raising its price target on shares of Informatica (INFA) to $40 from $37 and has a neutral rating on its shares. Shares of INFA gained $1.39 yesterday to close at $43.79, a gain of 3.28%.

The earnings crunch begins in earnest this coming week, with companies from Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) and PepsiCo Inc. (NYSE: PEP) to Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) and Harley-Davidson Inc. (NYSE: HOG) scheduled to report results for the quarter just ended. But with the ongoing turmoil in the markets, much attention is on the tech and financial sectors. This week will provide plenty to mull over on both counts.

Wall Street expectations for tech stocks are fairly optimistic. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial are looking for chip maker Altera Corp. (NASDAQ: ALTR) and software/service company iGate Corp. (NASDAQ: IGTE) to be the sector's biggest earnings gainers of the week. Altera is expected to report earnings of 30 cents per share (up 33.3% from a year ago) on revenue of $355.1 million. Altera had previously forecast flat sales for the quarter, and shares fell to a 52-week low last week. iGate is expected to report earnings of 14 cents per share (up 42.9%) on revenue of $55.6 million. India-based iGate recently spun off its Mastech consulting services. Shares are down 45.0% in the past three months, and also reached a new 52-week low last week.

San Jose-based Novellus Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: NVLS), on the other hand, is expected to report that net income tumbled 90.4% from a year ago to 4 cents per share, on revenue of $245.6 million. Novellus fell to a 52-week low early last week, and shares are down 44.5% year to date.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Veraz , Cisco Systems and tw telecom were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• Jefferies downgraded shares of Veraz (NASDAQ: VRAZ) to Underperform from Hold after the company pre-announced a Q2 miss, as they are concerned about the company's ability to execute a turnaround. Jefferies lowered their target to 85c from $2.50.
  
• Credit Suisse cut Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) to Neutral from Outperform as they believe carriers may reduce spending given the slowing economic growth. Credit Suisse lowered their target price to $24 from $31.
  
• JP Morgan downgraded tw telecom (NASDAQ: TWTC) to Underweight from Overweight on concerns enterprise trends will continue to deteriorate.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Eaton (NYSE: ETN) and Altra Holdings (NASDAQ: AIMC) were lowered to Neutral from Buy at Merrill Lynch.
  
• ASML Holdings (NASDAQ: ASML) was downgraded to Reduce from Hold at Petercam.
  
• Informatica (NASDAQ: INFA) was cut at Piper to Neutral from Buy.
  
• Lev Pharmaceutials (OTC: LEVP) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: AsiaInfo Holdings, Western Alliance Bancorp and Gladstone Capital were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Kaufman Bros. believes AsiaInfo Holdings (NASDAQ: ASIA) is the leading provider of software to Chinese telecommunications firms, which they note are in the midst of a spending increase to upgrade legacy billing and CRM software systems. The firm initiated shares with a Buy rating and $15 target.
• Keefe Bruyette resumed coverage of Western Alliance Bancorp (NYSE: WAL) with a Market Perform rating and $14 target and sees the potential for short-term real estate headline risk.
• Gladstone Capital (NASDAQ: GLAD) was assumed with a Perform rating at Oppenheimer. The firm believes the increasingly challenging macroeconomic environment raises the risk of deteriorating credit quality and finds shares fairly priced at current levels.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• JMP Securities initiated TheStreet.com (NASDAQ: TSCM) with an Outperform rating and $13 target.
• Baird initiated Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ: BWLD) with a Neutral rating and $26 target.
• Informatica (NASDAQ: INFA) was initiated with a Buy rating at Broadpoint.