Foreign Markets
For a fifth straight session, Asian markets closed lower. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index closed 406.44 points, or 2.8 percent, lower at 13,971. The Nikkei was closed for a Japanese holiday.
In Europe, indices fell as well. The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was down 10.35 points, or 0.2 percent, at 4,438.19, while Germany’s DAX fell 28.58, or 0.6 percent, to 4,755.31. France’s CAC-40 dropped 11.01 points, or 0.3 percent, at 3,288.49.
U.S. Futures
Ahead of Alcoa’s (AA) 4th quarter earnings release, Dow Jones industrial average futures were unchanged at 8,523. Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 1.00, or 0.11 percent, to 884.50, while Nasdaq 100 index futures rose 1.00, or 0.08 percent, to 1,222.50.
Currencies and Commodities
Oil dropped $2.21, a 5.41% drop to $38.62 per barrel. The greenback was mixed against other currencies. The dollar fell 0.43% to 90.016 yen while the euro was 0.61% lower at $ 1.339. The pound lost 1.54% to $ 1.4929. Gold fell 1.47% at $842.40 an ounce as the dollar strengthened against the European currencies.
Corporate News
According to reports, Citigroup (C) and Morgan Stanley (MS) may announce as early as Monday a deal to combine their brokerages. Morgan Stanley is likely to pay Citigroup between $2 billion and $3 billion for a 51 percent stake in the brokerage Smith Barney. The move would also be beneficial to Morgan Stanley as it looks to build its less-risky, lower leveraged businesses after becoming a bank holding company.
Alcoa (AA) will release 4th quarter results after the closing bell. Analysts are expecting Alcoa to report a loss of 10 cents per share
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