Jennifer Lawrence SAG awards
AP
Good morning. Here's what you need to know.
  • Asian markets were mixed in overnight trading. The Japanese Nikkei fell 0.9 percent while the Hang Seng rose 0.4 percent and the Shanghai Composite surged 2.4 percent. In Europe, markets are flat to higher with the exception of the German DAX and Spanish IBEX, both down 0.1 percent. In the United States, futures point to a positive open.

  • Chinese industrial earnings growth fell to 19.0 percent year-over-year in December from 22.4 percent in November, but quarterly data showed a surge in earnings growth to 20.4 percent in Q4 from 1.0 percent in Q3. BofA economist Ting Lu says the data are important because they are closely correlated with earnings growth in China's non-financial sector.

  • Germany sold 1-year government bills this morning with a positive yield for the first time since June in a sign that investors are eschewing the safety of core sovereign debt for riskier assets. German bills have yielded negative interest as heavy demand over the course of the euro crisis has driven up prices above par value.

  • Shares of Jos. A Bank will likely come under pressure at Monday's market open after the company warned that 2012 net income would be about 20 percent lower than in 2011 and that customers are becoming unresponsive to promotional strategies. Jos A. Bank made the announcement Friday evening after markets closed.

  • Toyota regained the top spot as the world's largest auto maker Monday when the company announced global sales growth of 23 percent to 9.75 million units in 2012. General Motors, which was bumped out of the top spot, sold 9.29 million units last year.


  • Caterpillar beat estimates on fourth-quarter earnings and revenues this morning, announcing $1.91 EPS and $16.08 billion in sales. The company expects to make $7.00-9.00 per share in 2013 versus consensus expectations for 2013 EPS of $8.54.

  • Durable goods orders rose 4.6 percent in December, more than doubling estimates of a 2.0 percent rise. The widely tracked measure of nondefense capital goods orders excluding aircraft – commonly known as "core capex" – was up 0.2 percent versus expectations of a 0.4 percent decline.

  • Pending home sales data for the month of December are due out at 10 AM ET. Economists expect sales increased 0.1 percent in December from the previous month, or 12.5 percent year-over-year.

  • At 10:30 AM ET, the January reading of the Dallas Fed Manufacturing Activity index is released. Economists expect the index to fall to 3.0 from last month's 6.8 reading. Recent measures of regional manufacturing activity have surprised to the downside in January, though national figures remain robust.