Morning Wire — US Stock-Index Futures Mostly Flat

US index futures can’t find much to get excited about one way or the other this morning. Debt downgrades to six European countries were no surprise last night, and a big jump in investor confidence in Germany hasn’t been enough to light a fire under futures traders. In Asia, Japan’s central bank added $128 billion to its asset purchase plan and set an inflation target of 1% for now. Today’s report on US retail sales is expected to be very good, up 0.7% and, excluding new car sales, up 0.5%.

At about 8:15 a.m. ET, Germany’s DAX is up 0.17% at 6,749.66 and France’s CAC 40 is up 0.08%, at 3,387.24. In London, the FTSE 100 is down -0.02%, at 5,904.70.

In Asia, the Hang Seng index closed up 0.15%, at 20,917.80 and the Nikkei index closed up 0.59%, at 9,052.07. The Shanghai exchange closed down -0.30%, at 2,344.77.

Dow futures are down -0.02%, at 12,833.00. The Nasdaq 100 is up 0.03%, at 2,568.50 and the S&P is down -0.05%, at 1,348.40.

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 0.04% at 79.170.

In commodities, WTI and Brent crude are mixed this morning, with WTI up 0.30% at $101.21/barrel and Brent is down -0.08% at $117.84/barrel. Gold is down -0.41% this morning, at $1,717.90/ounce.

Paul Ausick