Morning Wire — US Stock-Index Futures Lower

A discounted rights offer by Italian bank UniCredit SpA has chilled Europe’s markets this morning and is raising traders wariness over the Eurozone’s debt crisis. The bank, Italy’s largest credit lender, announced that it would issue the new shares at a 43% discount to raise €7.5 billion. The action raises concerns about the health of other Eurozone banks. Markets in Asia were mixed as Japan and Shanghai held their first trading day of the new year.

At about 7:45 a.m. ET, Germany’s DAX is down -0.62% at 6,128.18 and France’s CAC 40 is down -0.83%, at 3,218.53. In London, the FTSE 100 is up 0.03%, at 5,701.82.

In Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng closed down -0.80%, at 18,727.30. The Nikkei index closed up 1.24%, at 8,560.11, and the Shanghai index closed down -1.37%, at 2,169.39.

Dow futures are down -0.19%, at 12,315.00. The Nasdaq 100 is up 0.03%, at 2,316.75 and the S&P is down -0.17%, at 1,269.90.

In the currency markets, the US dollar is stronger against the euro and the British pound, and weaker against the Japanese yen. The US dollar index is up about 0.375% at 79.962.

In commodities, both WTI and Brent crude are lower this morning, with WTI at $102.34/barrel and Brent at $111.63/barrel. Gold is also lower this morning, down a fraction at $1,599.00/ounce.