Morning Wire -- US Stock-Index Futures Up Slightly

US index futures are trending higher this morning following a better-than-expected report from Germany’s Ifo Institute on that country’s business index and expectations that US jobless claims will rise slightly from last week’s 348,000 to 353,000. Also in Europe, a mild recession has been forecast by the European Commission (our coverage here), which is holding share prices down. In Asia, markets finished mixed today as rising exports boosted Japan stocks and the Hong Kong property market cooled.

At about 8:15 a.m. ET, Germany’s DAX is down -0.37% at 6,818.33 and France’s CAC 40 is down -0.03%, at 3,446.42. In London, the FTSE 100 is up 0.24%, at 5,930.75.

In Asia, the Hang Seng index closed down -0.78%, at 21,381.00 and the Nikkei index closed up 0.44%, at 9,595.57. The Shanghai exchange closed up 0.25%, at 2,409.55.

Dow futures are up 0.12%, at 12,931.00. The Nasdaq 100 is up 0.16%, at 2,583.00 and the S&P is up 0.04%, at 1,356.50.

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 -0.32% at 78.975.

In commodities, WTI and Brent crude are higher this morning, with WTI up 0.12% at $106.41/barrel and Brent is up 1.03% at $124.16/barrel. Gold is up 0.31% this morning, at $1,776.80/ounce.

Paul Ausick