Stocks were generally up in Asian trade. The Hang Seng led the way with a gain of 1.7%, other key indexes such as the Nikkei, Shanghai and Australia all added a slight fraction. European indexes are mixed with the Dax and Footsie currently down by about a quarter percent. US stock futures are up a slight fraction.*The January reading of Japan’s Current Account Balance showed that their surplus was down 47.6% on a year on year basis; Exports were down on the month while Imports rose.
*The January reading of German Factory Orders were four tenths stronger than expected at +2.9% on a month on month basis.
*The February reading of Switzerland’s Unemployment Rate fell one tenth to 3.4%, the lowest result in almost two years.
*The February reading of the NFIB Small Business Optimism Index was up four tenths on the month to 94.5. Although this was a half point under the forecast, it is the highest result since December 2007 and the components of the report, such as hiring plans were multi month highs.
*The weekly report on chain store sales from ICSC showed a gain of 2.3% on a week on week basis for the week ended March 5. The Johnson Redbook report on the same thing is due out at 7:55am CST.
*White House CEA boss Goolsbee is set to speak at the NABE conference in DC at 7:00am CST.
*The IBD/TIPP Index of Economic Optimism is due out at 9:00am CST, it is expected to rise fractionally on the month to 51.6.
*Fed Governor nominee Peter Diamond will testify at his confirmation hearing at 9:00am CST before the Senate Banking Committee.
*The Fed is scheduled to buy Treasuries today that are due to mature between 9/30/16 and 2/28/18; the results of the operation will be announced just after 10:00am CST.
*The Treasury plans to sell $32 billion 3 Year Notes today; the results of the auction will be announced just after noon CST.
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