Options Trading News

U.S. equity futures are slightly higher this morning as investors shrug off weak economic data in Europe and a big credit downgrade in the financial sector.

The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average are indicated to open up by about 0.3 percent, while the Nasdaq is posting a smaller gain. The rebound comes after a drop of more than 2 percent yesterday.

Most overseas markets are lower. Chinese indexes fell 1.4 percent in the overnight session following Thursday's declines in the U.S. Germany and the U.K. are currently down about 0.8 percent, while France's CAC-40 declined 0.7 percent. Lingering concerns about the global economy, plus a weak German Ifo survey of business confidence, were the main catalysts.

Most currencies are little changed, while commodities are up slightly following big losses yesterday. Oil is rebounding about half a percent, while gold is up less. Copper remains under pressure after making a new six-month low, and agricultural foodstuffs are mixed, with some noteworthy strength in the grains.

Moody's Investors Service downgraded the credit rating of 15 major banks including Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, HSBC and Credit Agricole. The market is largely ignoring the move. Morgan Stanley is up 3 percent, while Bank of America and C climbed by more than 1 percent.

Arena Pharmaceuticals, already up more than 709 percent in the last week, advanced another 4 percent before the bell. Ryder fell more than 7 percent after cutting guidance, while Darden Restaurants shed about 3 percent after revenue missed forecasts.