This morning, in earnings news, Abbott Labs (ABT) reported EPS of $1.03, 3 cents above expectations; BlackRock (BLK) reported EPS of $3.16 versus $3.02 expectations; PNC reported EPS that is 1 cent higher than expectations; and Southwest Bancorp beat the street with a $0.21 EPS versus expectations of a $0.01 quarterly loss.
Crude Oil futures are lower by 0.5% this morning, while Natural Gas futures are marginally higher. At 10:30 a.m. ET this morning, the Department of Energy will release the weekly report on Crude inventories. Gold is also lower by 0.5%, down $8.80 to $1,642.30.
In currency markets, EUR/USD is under pressure, trading down 60 pips to 1.3065. A close below the Ichimoku Cloud at 1.3055 could inspire further losses in sessions ahead. The US$ is also higher against JPY, which spiked to 81.57 before trading at 81.35 currently.