Morning Wire -- US Stock-Index Futures Lower Again

US index futures are down again this morning as investors continue to react negatively to rising yields on Spanish and Italian bonds. The US Labor Department will report on new claims for unemployment benefits later this morning. A MarketWatch estimate calls for a slight increase to 360,000. In Europe, markets on down on the rising bond yields, and the falling euro, which has caused the Swiss National Bank to declare that it will defend the 1.20 exchange rate with the “utmost determination” and that the bank is prepared to buy foreign currencies in “unlimited quantities” to defend its franc. In Asia, China’s comments on its banking system has depressed some investors, while others are buoyed by the doubling of the country’s foreign investment limit.

At about 8:15 a.m. ET, Germany’s DAX is down -0.90% at 6,722.88 and France’s CAC 40 is down -0.51% at 3,296.50. In London, the FTSE 100 is down -0.40%, at 5,681.24.

In Asia, the Nikkei closed down -0.53% at 9,767.61. The Hang Seng closed down -0.95% at 20,593.00 and the Shanghai index closed up 1.74% at 2,302.24, in its first day of trading this week.

Dow futures are down -0.29%, at 12,967.00. The Nasdaq is down -0.13%, at 2,733.00 and the S&P is down -0.32%, at 1,388.70.

In the currency markets, the US dollar is stronger against the euro and the British pound, and weaker versus the Japanese yen. The US dollar index is up 0.25% at 79.974.

In commodities, WTI and Brent crude are higher this morning, with WTI up 0.40% at $101.88/barrel and Brent is up 0.23% at $122.62/barrel. Gold is up 0.75% this morning, at $1,626.20/ounce.

Paul Ausick