Morning Wire -- US Stock-Index Futures Higher

US index futures are higher this morning as investors wait for news on US personal income and spending. A survey of economists conducted by MarketWatch forecast spending to climb 0.7% and income to rise by 0.4%. In Europe, the agreement to boost the eurozone’s financial “firewall” to €700 billion will also play well in US markets. In Asia, markets closed mostly lower. The Shanghai markets will be closed much of next week to celebrate the Qingming festival.

At about 8:15 a.m. ET, Germany’s DAX is up 1.16% at 6,954.82 and France’s CAC 40 is up 1.41% at 3,428.79. In London, the FTSE 100 is up 0.59%, at 5,775.65.

In Asia, the Hang Seng index closed down -0.26%, at 20,555.60. The Nikkei closed down -0.31% at 10,083.60 and the Shanghai exchange closed up 0.47%, at 2,262.79.

Dow futures are up 0.47%, at 13,139.00. The Nasdaq is up 0.50%, at 2,772.00 and the S&P is up 0.54%, at 1,405.70.

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 -0.46% at 78.821.

In commodities, WTI and Brent crude are higher this morning, with WTI up 0.46% at $103.25/barrel and Brent is up 0.68% at $123.22/barrel. Gold is up 0.90% this morning, at $1,669.80/ounce.

Paul Ausick