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- Overnight trading in Asia ended with a strong rally, with Japan's Nikkei up 2.0 percent. European markets are up nicely and U.S. futures point to a sharply higher open.
- Japan's current account deficit soared to a record high of ¥437.3 billion yen, or $5.41 billion in January. Economists had expected ¥317.8 billion, but a shift to energy imports and away from nuclear production pushed the deficit higher.
- German industrial production increased at a faster pace than expected in January, gaining 1.6 percent. The jump, attributed to increased construction and investment goods production, reversed December's 2.6 percent decline.
- French nonfarm payrolls declined 0.1 percent sequentially in the final quarter of 2011, which was 10 basis points better than forecasts. Excluding temporary employment, the job picture remained mostly stable, shedding just 1,500 jobs.
- The spread between Italian and German bonds fell below three percentage points, as bonds continue to rally lower after the European Central Bank's three-year long-term refinancing operation flooded the financial system with capital. The ten-year Italian bond dropped to 4.75 percent, its lowest level in nine months.
- Sixty percent of Greek bondholders are reportedly backing the country's debt-swap agreement, new data out of Bloomberg shows. Economists have grown confident that more than 66.67 percent of holders will agree to the plan, which is the needed participation rate to activate the collective action clause. However, Greece has said it will only go ahead with the CAC if it reaches a 75 percent participation rate.
- The U.S. Treasury announced that it will sell $6 billion worth of AIG stock and that it reached a deal for the company to pay $8.5 billion towards its government obligations. The agreement brings the government's interest in the company down to 70 percent from 77 percent earlier.
- The Bank of England held its key benchmark rate steady at 0.5 percent and announced that it would keep its asset purchasing program at £325 billion. The BoE last increased its asset program when officials met in February.
- The U.S. Justice department has warned Apple and a number of publishers that it plans to file suit over electronic book pricing collusion, the Wall Street Journal's Thomas Catan and Jeffrey Trachtenberg report. Prosecutors allege that by pushing the industry to a pricing strategy where Apple could not be undercut, prices across publishing were sent higher.
- Layoffs declined by 3.3 percent in the U.S. in February, new data out of Challenger Gray and Christmas shows. Still to come are initial claims at 8:30 a.m., with forecasts for unemployment claims to remain flat at 351,000.
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