Morning Wire — US Stock-Index Futures Little-Changed

US stock-index futures are nearly flat this morning as French and German leaders meet to iron out the details for a Eurozone growth plan. The US earnings season gets off to its official start today with Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA) set to report earnings after markets close today. Consensus estimates call for an EPS loss of -$0.02. In Europe, investors are waiting to see the results on the next auction of Italian and Spain later this week. There is a short-term US Treasuries auction this morning, and this afternoon the Federal Reserve releases its report on consumer credit.

At about 8:30 a.m. ET, Germany’s DAX is down -0.19% at 6,046.16 and France’s CAC 40 is up 0.22%, at 3,144.20. In London, the FTSE 100 is down -0.21%, at 5,637.88.

In Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng closed up 1.47%, at 18,865.70. The Nikkei index closed down -1.16%, at 8,390.35 on Friday and closed for a holiday on Monday, and the Shanghai index closed up 2.89%, at 2,225.89.

Dow futures are up 0.25%, at 12,340.00. The Nasdaq 100 is up 0.30%, at 2,359.25 and the S&P is up 0.21%, at 1,276.70.

In the currency markets, the US dollar is weaker against the euro, the British pound, and the Japanese yen. The US dollar index is down about 0.22% at 81.084.

In commodities, WTI and Brent crude are mixed this morning, with WTI at up slightly at $101.58/barrel and Brent down slightly at $112.96/barrel. Gold is also higher this morning, at $1,618.50/ounce.