Stocks are now being called to open on a 'mixed' footing, although the Nasdaq-100 is expected to manage to eke out a small rise.

That follows on the release of better than expected Chinese macroeconomic figures out before the 'opening bell' and a large positive economic surprise this morning.

The US trade deficit shrank by 20.7% month-on-month in December, to $38.5bn, reflecting a surge in the oil balance as exports of 'black gold' rise and imports fall. The potential benefits to the US economy of this trend should not be underestimated.

Economists will thus now be forced to revise up their forecasts for fourth quarter growth to show a small expansion versus the marginal contraction of 0.1% first reported by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. For their part Barclays Research has already done that; its economists now estimate that the US economy grew by 0.6 per cent in the last quarter of 2012, instead of contracting by 0.1 per cent as was thought.

No less relevant, EU leaders are now expected to push for a trans-Atlantic free trade zone, something which has been a goal of some policy-makers since the signing of the first GATT accords, the forerunner to today's World Trade Organisation, in the aftermath of the Second World War. Although trade liberalisation does create winners and losers it is one of the last few powerful levers left with which to increase countries' economic growth rate potential.

Mc.Donalds is expected to be an early riser after reporting a larger than expected increase, of 0.9%, in US same store sales for the month of January, instead of the 0.3% fall expected by the consensus.

Shares of Linkedin are rising by 10% in premarket trades after the release of its latest results.

Activision Blizzard, the largest US video-game maker, has more than tripled fourth-quarter net income.

Front month West Texas crude futures are now rising by 0.343 dollars to the 9616 dollar mark on the NYMEX.

10 year US Treasury yields are now higher by 1 basis point, to the 1.94% mark.

AB

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