(by Dr. Goldfinger)

U.S. stock-index futures rose, according to Bloomberg News. Shares of Microsoft Corp. rose after the company said it plans to buy back as much as $30 billion of its own stock and pay a one-time dividend of $3 a share. Motorola Inc. gained after reporting profit that beat estimates.

S&P 500 futures expiring in September added 2.2 to 1114.4 as of 12:24 p.m. in London. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 16 to 10,184 and Nasdaq-100 Index futures added 9.5 to 1437.

Fifty-five members of the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, including General Motors Corp. report earnings today. Companies in the benchmark boosted profit 21.8 percent in the second quarter after a 28 percent jump in the first, according to analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.

``The figures have been better than expected and they’re not priced in to the market,’’ said Jerome Forneris, part of a team that manages $6 billion at Banque Martin Maurel in Marseille. ``A rally can take place.’’

Microsoft surged $1.68, or 5.9 percent, to $30 on the Inet ATS trading system as 12 Dow Industrials companies gained, while 15 stocks in the benchmark declined.

General Motors, the world’s largest automaker, gained 17 cents to $43.77 in Germany.

J.P. Morgan, the second-biggest U.S. bank, climbed 28 cents to $36.68 in Germany. The bank said second-quarter profit before some items was 85 cents a share, higher than the 83-cent average estimate from analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.

Pfizer, the world’s biggest drugmaker, added 23 cents to $32.56 in Germany. The company reported second-quarter earnings, excluding some expenses, of 47 cents a share, matching the average estimate of 27 analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.