European markets are rallying after Spain's economic minister ruled out the need for a European Union bailout, reversing U.S. futures higher after a roller-coaster overnight session.
U.S. equity futures, which had all been down overnight, are now positive and gaining strength ahead of the first-quarter GDP report at 8:30 a.m. ET. Investors and traders will be watching the Thursday session high of 1399 for resistance after that release.
The German DAX saw the greatest strength of its Eurozone peers, up 0.25 percent as of this writing. Standard & Poor's downgrading Spanish debt from A to BBB+, which sparked a flight to safety that sent bond yields higher and the the euro lower. But Spanish Economy Minister Luis de Guindos said at a news conference earlier that Spain would not need a bailout, and euro/dollar futures have since turned positive.
Commodity markets have given back a bit of yesterday's gains, with crude falling below the 103 level briefly before recovering in early morning trading. The front-month crude future is lower at 104.27, while gold and silver futures are both down 0.35 percent as of this writing.
Copper futures recovered early losses after all the Spanish news, and the front-month contract is up 0.45 percent to 3.795, slightly below the highly technically and psychological level of 3.80.
Asian markets did not benefit from the rebound seen in their U.S. and European counterparts, with most indexes closing lower. Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.43 percent, reversing a three-day winning streak.
In stock-specific news, Amazon.com is up over 16 percent--or more than $31--after posting blowout earnings last night. Expedia is up over 21 percent, or more than $7, after reporting better-than-expected quarterly results, pushing rival Priceline.com up more than $10 in sympathy.
Shares of Zynga up more than 2.5 percent after beating forecasts, but Starbucks is down 4.4 percent after reporting earnings results after yesterday's close.
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