Italian Elections

Futures Flat on Mixed Economic Data U.S. equity futures traded little changed in early pre-market trade following mixed global economic data. Mixed data out of Japan was followed by a flood of data out of Europe which continued to point to room for the European Central Bank to ease policy further...

Futures Rise on Stimulus Hopes Despite Weak GDP U.S. equity futures rose in early pre-market trade following gains in Europe on hopes of a rate cut from the European Central Bank this Thursday as markets shrugged off the weak GDP report from last Friday. The ECB is expected to cut the benchmark...

More than two months after the much contested Italian parliamentary elections, President Giorgio Napolitano appointed Enrico Letta of the center-left party as Prime Minister with the task of forming a new government. Letta was formerly the deputy head of the center-left party and served under...

Futures Higher Following Asian, Yen Strength U.S. equity futures rose sharply pre-market following strength abroad overnight as Asian and European shares rallied alongside the yen slide. Yen weakness was a key driver of the risk-on environment as the USD/JPY closed in on the key 100 level once...

Futures Flat As Cyprus Debates Bailout, ECB Deadline Looms U.S. equity futures were flat in early pre-market trade as Cypriot lawmakers continued to debate the revised bailout procedure. After rejecting the initial bailout proposal and failing to secure a bridge loan from Russia, Cyprus now must...

Futures Lower on Weak Chinese Data, Italy Fears U.S. equity futures fell in early pre-market trade Monday following weaker than expected data from China and also on continued fears surrounding the state of Italian politics. New data showed that China's services sector grew faster than expected in...

Futures Flat Ahead of Bernanke U.S. equity futures were flat in pre-market trading ahead of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's second day of testimony in Washington. Tuesday, Bernanke hinted that the Fed is not concerned with its exit strategy, noting that the Fed could exit stimulus by doing...

Over the last 24 hours since Italian polls have closed, election results have filtered out of the Mediterranean nation. At first glance, initial media polls showed that pro-austerity leader Pierre Luigi Bersani had a strong lead in the lower house of Parliament and could even win a majority in...

Futures Rise After Losses, Italian Elections U.S. equity futures gained in the pre-market after massive losses Monday following the turmoil over the Italian elections. It appears as though no majority will be formed and that Italians will need to go back to the polls to try to elect a majority...

The first media polls released showing initial results of the Italian election show that the centrist, pro-austerity party led by Pierre Luigi Bersani holds a slight lead over opposition parties. According to Sky News Italia, the results are as follows: Bersani Coalition: 34.5 percent....

Futures Rise Despite U.K. Downgrade, Weak China Manufacturing Data U.S. equity futures rose slightly in pre-market trading despite the downgrade of the U.K.'s sovereign credit rating to Aa1 from AAA by Moody's. Also, the China HSBC Flash Manufacturing PMI for February was released at 50.4, weaker...

This weekend, Italians will hit the polls in the much anticipated parliamentary elections. The elections will decide the next ruling party in Italy and could very well determine the near-term future of the European debt crisis, thus making it a major trading event for investors. Opinion polls have...

Futures Rise on German Business Confidence U.S. equity futures rose in pre-market trading following the release of the German IFO Business Confidence Survey. The Survey showed that German business leaders were more confident about the future of the Eurozone economy than expected, with the index...

Futures Lower on Weak European Manufacturing Data U.S. equity futures fell in pre-market trading following weak Eurozone Manufacturing PMIs. The Eurozone Manufacturing PMI for February fell to 47.8 from 47.9 in January, worse than forecasts of a reading of 48.5, with weakness in France and Germany...