Morning Wire — US Stock-Index Futures Higher

US index futures are higher this morning following an agreement on the Greek debt swap and bailout. In Europe, markets are weaker on the news as traders appear to have re-focused attention on fundamental weakness in the Greek economy and the relatively poor prospects for the country to pull itself out of the mess it’s in. In Asia, markets finished higher today, thanks to a weekend announcement from the Chinese government that it was lowering reserve requirements and cutting the overnight lending rate. The European agreement on Greece likely had little impact on the Asian markets.

At about 8:15 a.m. ET, Germany’s DAX is down -0.63% at 6,904.31 and France’s CAC 40 is down -0.57%, at 3,452.70. In London, the FTSE 100 is down -0.34%, at 5,924.83.

In Asia, the Hang Seng index closed up 0.25%, at 21,478.70 and the Nikkei index closed down -0.23%, at 9,463.02. The Shanghai exchange closed up 0.75%, at 2,381.43.

Dow futures are up 0.33%, at 12,972.00. The Nasdaq 100 is up 0.14%, at 2,585.50 and the S&P is up 0.22%, at 1,362.70.

In the currency markets, the US dollar is stronger against the euro, the British pound, and the Japanese yen. The US dollar index is down -0.01% at 79.133.

In commodities, WTI and Brent crude are mixed this morning, with WTI up 1.37% at $104.65/barrel and Brent is down -0.11% at $119.92/barrel. Gold is up 0.83% this morning, at $1,740.30/ounce.

Paul Ausick