Morning Wire — US Stock-Index Futures Mostly Lower

US index futures are trending lower this morning, although the Nasdaq Composite is defying the trend by posting a decent gain. That’s mostly due to the stellar earnings report from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) after markets closed last night. In Europe, the discussions between Greece and its bondholders resume today with the added wrinkle that the European Central Bank has said that it would not agree to haircut on the Greek bonds it has purchased. The ECB maintains that the purchases were made for monetary policy purposes and are exempt.

At about 8:15 a.m. ET, Germany’s DAX is down -0.50% at 6,386.92 and France’s CAC 40 is down -0.66%, at 3,300.83. In London, the FTSE 100 is down -0.60%, at 5,717.28.

In Asia, the Hong Kong and Shanghai exchanges remain closed for the lunar new year holiday. The Nikkei index closed up 1.12%, at 8,883.69.

Dow futures are down -0.36%, at 12,581.00. The Nasdaq 100 is up 0.65%, at 2,453.25 and the S&P is down -0.31%, at 1,307.40.

In the currency markets, the US dollar is stronger against the British pound, the euro and the Japanese yen. The US dollar index is up 0.657% at 80.322.

In commodities, WTI and Brent crude are lower this morning, with WTI down -0.87% at $98.09/barrel and Brent is down -0.47% at $109.51/barrel. Gold is down -0.65% this morning, at $1,653.70/ounce.

Paul Ausick