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January 30, 2013  Wed 7:11 AM CT

SPX: SEE CHART GET CHAIN FIND STRATEGIES
Stock futures are little-changed as investors brace for key economic data.

The first headline will be ADP's monthly payrolls report at 8:15 a.m. ET, followed by fourth-quarter gross domestic product 15 minutes later. At 2:15 p.m. ET, the Federal Reserve will announce monetary policy.

European indexes have turned negative following earlier gains, while Asian markets were broadly higher in the overnight session. Japan's Nikkei continued its impressive run with a gain of more than 2 percent, while Shanghai rose 1 percent. Both moves come amid widening optimism toward the global economy.

The S&P 500 closed yesterday at its highest level in more than five years, while the Dow Jones Transports index and the Russell 2000 small-cap index are both at all-time records amid the improved confidence.

Big news events continue tomorrow (jobless claims, Chinese manufacturing data) and Friday (non-farm payrolls, European manufacturing data). The question now facing traders is whether good news has already been priced in, or whether further upside remains for equities.

Commodities are bullish this morning, with copper up by more than 1 percent while oil and silver are up by half a percent. Most agricultural foodstuffs are higher.

A similar dynamic is at work in the foreign-exchange market, where the euro is climbing and the Japanese yen is down across the board. Weakness in the Australian and Canadian dollars, which tend to follow risk appetite, is the one potential warning sign for the bulls.

In company-specific news, online retailer Amazon.com is indicated higher by more than 8 percent after a shift to new businesses drove profit margins higher.


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