10 Things You Need To Know Before The Opening Bell

Mamta Badkar

Jason Merritt/Getty Images

Good morning. Here's what you need to know.

• Asian markets were higher in overnight trading with the Nikkei up 1.58 percent. Europe is higher on news that Greece may be closer to a bailout and U.S. futures are flat.

• The ECB is swapping Greek bonds for new ones of equal structure and nominal value, to avoid losses in a debt restructuring, according to Bloomberg. And Germany wants euro-area finance ministers to avoid a two-step vote on a €130 billion bailout for Greece, when they meet in Brussels on February 20. 

• Meanwhile, German chancellor Angela Merkel has taken another blow as German president Christian Wulff resigned amid a legal probe into corruption allegations. Merkel canceled today's debt crisis meeting with Italian prime minister Mario Monti on the news. Wulff is the second German president to quit in less than two years. 

• Billionaire investor Carl Icahn offered to buy CVR Energy for at least $2.6 billion. Ichan already has a 14.5 percent stake in the company. Meanwhile, CME Group has made a bid for the London Metal Exchange, while the NYSE Euronext has also expressed interest. LME's board will review the bids in a meeting on February 23.

• CPI data for January will be released at 8:30 AM ET. Consensus is for a 0.3 percent month-over-month rise in CPI.

• Dutch insurer Aegon NV which owns Transamerica, posted a 75 percent decline in fourth quarter profit. Ageon reported net income of €79 million and said profits were hit by lower investment returns, reorganization costs, and interest rates.

• UK retail sales unexpectedly gained 0.9 percent month-over-month in January, against expectations of a 0.4 percent fall. Retail sales were boosted by purchases of furniture and sports goods. 

• Singapore's non-oil domestic exports fell 2.1 percent from a year ago, after a 9 percent gain the previous month. Exports declined for the first time in three months as Europe's debt crisis led to weaker electronics and petrochemical shipments. 

• Apple's share of China's smartphone market fell to 7.5 percent in the fourth quarter, from 10.4 percent the previous quarter. Apple's market share declined for the second straight month on competition from Chinese vendors, and as consumers put off purchases till the launch of the iPhone 4S.

• Online-review service Yelp plans to raise $115 million in its March IPO. It amended a filing with the SEC and now expects to issue more than seven million shares of Class A stock.