Benzinga | Jan 15, 2013 07:24AM ET
U.S. equity futures traded fractionally lower in early Tuesday trade following the release of fourth quarter and full year 2012 GDP data for Germany. German GDP contracted 0.5 percent in the fourth quarter bringing the 2012 total rate of growth of +0.7 percent, weaker than economist forecasts of a 0.8 percent rate of growth.
Top News
In other news around the markets:
Asian shares were mixed overnight with Japanese shares gaining on stimulus hopes and Korean shares plummeting. The Japanese Nikkei Index rose 0.72 percent and the Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.6 percent while the Hang Seng Index fell 0.14 percent in Hong Kong. Also, the Korean Kospi declined 1.16 percent and Australian shares slipped 0.07 percent.
European Markets
European shares were mostly flat to slightly higher in early trade with notable weakness seen in Spain. The Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.36 percent while the Italian MIB Index rose 0.41 percent. Meanwhile, the German DAX rose 0.06 percent and the French CAC gained 0.25 percent while U.K. shares rose 0.08 percent.
Commodities
Commodities were mostly higher overnight, buoyed by energy strength. WTI Crude futures rose 0.25 percent to $94.38 per barrel and Brent Crude futures gained 0.4 percent to $112.33 per barrel. Copper futures declined with Australian mining stocks as futures lost 0.21 percent to $362.65. Gold was higher and silver futures rose 0.72 percent to $31.34 per ounce.
Currencies
Currency markets were fairly quiet overnight with the exception being yen strength following comments from Japanese Economy Minister Amari that too much yen weakness too soon is not healthy. The EUR/USD was flat at 1.3384 and the dollar declined against the yen to 88.83. Overall, the Dollar Index fell 0.08 percent with weakness against the yen offset by strength against the Canadian dollar and Swiss franc. In addition, the AUD/JPY cross was the biggest mover, declining 0.83 percent, and the EUR/JPY followed the pair lower.
Pre-Market Movers
Stocks moving in the pre-market included:
Notable companies expected to report earnings Tuesday include:
On the economics calendar Tuesday, Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren speaks ahead of the PPI and retail sales data releases. Also, the Empire State Manufacturing Index is due out as well as the Redbook and Naryana Kocherlakota of the Minneapolis Fed and Charles Plosser of the Philly Fed are set to speak. Lastly, business inventories data is due out and the Treasury is set to auction 4-week bills. Overnight, Australian auto sales, Chinese FDI data, and a German 1-year bund auction will set the tone for markets.
By Matthew Kanterman
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