Options Trading News

U.S. equity index futures are higher this morning after a German court ruling favored the Eurozone bailout plan and before the Fed begins its two-day meeting.

S&P 500 futures are up 6.50 points, or 0.45 percent, to 1436.75 at the time of this writing. Nasdaq 100 contracts are higher by 15.50 points, or 0.56 percent, to 2794.25.

European indexes are gaining as well, with the German DAX and the Euro STOXX 50 both up 0.79 percent. The U.K. FTSE 100 is higher by 0.07 percent after Irish bond prices climbed.

Asian indexes closed in positive territory in anticipation of further easing from the Fed and after assurances by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao that Beijing has "ample" room to help stimulate the economy. Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 1.73 percent, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 1.1 percent.

Currency markets are reflecting the morning's bullish tone. The euro/dollar is off its high of 1.2948 but still up 0.28 percent at 1.291. U.S. Dollar Index futures are lower by 0.126 points, or 0.16 percent, to 79.96, while the Australian dollar/Japanese yen cross climbed to a monthly high of 81.82 in early trading.

Commodity markets are also gaining, with front-month crude-oil futures rising 0.38 points, or 0.41 percent, to 96.59 after trading as high as 98.06. Spot gold prices up 9.60 points, or 0.55 percent, to 1744.40 after trading as high as 1749.50. Copper futures are well off their overnight high of 3.7315 but remain positive by 0.07 points to 3.6995.

In company-specific news, Apple is up about 0.7 percent ahead of its widely anticipated launch of the iPhone 5 at 1 p.m. ET.

Facebook is back above the $20 mark with a 4.5 percent pre-market gain after CEO Mark Zuckerberg last night gave his first interview since the company's IPO.