US equities are now being called to start the day ever so slightly lower. This after the release of worse than expected data before the 'opening-bell' and following last night's slide on Wall Street.

The selling pressure came on the back of what appears to have been a set of Fed minutes which made for a more aggressive read than expected.

Nevertheless, this is a part of what Barclays Research was telling clients this morning: "We characterize the debate as fairly balanced, and although concerns about the costs of balance sheet expansion are rising (...) However, the lack of resolution to the sequester budget cuts leaves downside risk to our growth forecast, and if the sequester is allowed to proceed in its current form for the remainder of the year, it would raise the risk that tapering could begin later than we have in our baseline."

Existing home sales data and the Philly Fed survey are still ahead, at 15:00. The President of the US Federal Reserve Bank of New York is due to speak at 17:30 while his colleague at the St.Louis Fed will do so at 18:00.

Initial weekly US jobless claims rose by 20,000 last week to 362,000 (Consensus: 355,000).

The core rate for consumer prices rose by 0.3 per cent month-on-month in January (Consensus: 0.2 per cent).

10 year US Treasury yields are now falling by 3 basis points to 1.97%

Front month West Texas crude futures are now falling by 1.96% to the $94.77 mark on the NYMEX.

AB

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