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Good morning. Here's what you need to know.
  • Asian markets were down in overnight trading with the Hang Seng falling 2.73%. Europe is mixed after 17 euro members made progress towards a new plan to save the euro, and U.S. futures are higher ahead of the market open.
  • EU officials met in Brussels yesterday and failed to get all 27 members to back a change to the EU treaty that would call for fiscal coordination. UK prime minister David Cameron refused to back a new treaty, a move that could isolate Britain from the continent. Cameron asked for regulatory exemptions for the UK which were considered unacceptable. Meanwhile, Germany rejected some key points from a plan drafted by EU leaders, to save the euro. Germany maintained its opposition to eurobonds and a plan to give the ESM a banking license that would allow it to borrow from the ECB.
  • The ECB has capped purchases of euro zone sovereign bonds at €20 billion a week and is not considering a bigger action in response to an EU summit decision to create a fiscal union, according to a Reuters report. 
  • Moody's  cut the long-term debt rating of three French banks. BNP Paribas and Credit Agricole's long-term debt rating was cut by one notch to Aa3. Societe Generale's long-term debt rating was cut by one notch to A1. Moody's attributed the cut to the increasing difficulty in raising capital and the deteriorating economic outlook. 
  • Texas Instruments cut Q4 guidance and now expects revenue in the range of $3.19 billion to $3.33 billion, down from previous guidance of $3.26 billion to $3.54 billion. EPS guidance was also slashed to $0.21 to $0.25 per share. The company attributed the reductions to lower demand. 
  • Chinese CPI grew 4.2% year-over-year in November, down from 5.5% the previous month. Food prices were up 8.8% from a year ago, but eased 0.8% from October. Meanwhile, Chinese producer price inflation rose 2.7% in November. 
  • Toyota sharply lowered its earnings forecast for the fiscal year. The company now expects a net profit of 180 billion yen ($2.3 billion), down 54% from its August projections. It also expects leaner revenue of 18.2 trillion yen ($234.36 billion) down from 19 trillion yen. Toyota attributed the drop in earnings to flooding in Thailand and a strong yen.
  • Web security provider Blue Coat Systems Inc. is being acquired by private equity firm Thoma Bravo for $1.3 billion. Blue Coat shareholders will receive $25.81 in cash for each share, representing a 48% premium on the share's closing price yesterday.
  • International trade data for October will be released at 8:30 AM ET and consumer sentiment for December will be released at 9:55 AM ET. Consensus is for a rise in the trade deficit to $43.4 billion and a rise in consumer sentiment level to 66.