Morning Wire -- US Stock-Index Futures Slightly Lower

US index futures are flat to lower this morning following two days of higher numbers. The report on new US unemployment benefits claims is due this morning, and analysts expect a slight drop, although this morning’s data from out-placement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas sounded a mournful note (see coverage here). In Europe, the announced merger of Glencore and Xstrata probably stemmed further losses, as did the sale of Spanish bonds at lower yields. In Asia, markets rose on good manufacturing data.

At about 8:30 a.m. ET, Germany’s DAX is down -0.08% at 6,611.33 and France’s CAC 40 is up 0.03%, at 3,368.54. In London, the FTSE 100 is down -0.28%, at 5,774.68.

In Asia, the Hang Seng index closed up 2%, at 20,739.40 and the Nikkei index closed up 0.76%, at 8,876.82. The Shanghai exchange closed up 1.96%, at 2,312.56.

Dow futures are down -0.12%, at 12,638.00. The Nasdaq 100 is down -0.11%, at 2,484.75 and the S&P is down -0.10%, at 1,318.50.

In the currency markets, the US dollar is stronger against the British pound and the euro, and weaker against the Japanese yen. The US dollar index is up 0.331% at 79.123.

In commodities, WTI and Brent crude are mixed this morning, with WTI down -0.92% at $96.71/barrel and Brent is up 0.01% at $111.57/barrel. Gold is down -0.12% this morning, at $1,747.40/ounce.

Paul Ausick