The main US equity benchmarks are now pointing to gains of 0.1 per cent, on average, at the start of the session.

Of interest, speaking on Bloomberg TV bond fund manager Mohammed El-Erian, from PIMCO, is describing yesterday's speech from President Obama as 'impressive.' He believes that Obama's words were indeed an effort to reach 'across the aisle.'

Shares of General Electric are climbing by 3% after announcing the sale of its remaining stake in NBC Universal to Comcast for $16.7bn.

Western Union is sliding after warning that revenues will decline in 2013.

Shares of Cliffs Natural Resources are plummeting by 13%. The iron-ore producer cut its quarterly dividend by 76% after the price of the commodity declined and a Canadian mining project was delayed.

Import prices below expectations

US retail sales rose by 0.1% month-on-month in January, as expected.

Import prices increased at a 0.6% month-on-month clip, less than the 0.9% gain forecast.

Oil and yields grind slightly higher
Yields on US 10 year bonds are now rising by 4 basis points to the 2% mark.

Front month West Texas crude futures are now gaining 0.27% to the 97.78 dollar per barrel mark on the NYMEX.



AB

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