Morning Briefing: 10 Things You Should Know

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- U.S. stock futures were pointing to a flat open on Wall Street Friday as U.S. lawmakers made limited progress in negotiations to resolve the so-called fiscal cliff.

European shares were rising marginally, while Asian stocks ended Friday's trading session mostly higher. Japan's Nikkei 225 index rose 0.5% following the release of an 880.3 billion yen ($10.7 billion) stimulus package by the Japanese government.

---

The economic calendar in the U.S. Friday includes personal income, spending and the core PCE [personal consumption expenditure] inflation data for October at 8:30 a.m. EST, and the Chicago purchasing managers index for November at 9:45 a.m.

---

U.S. stocks on Thursday finished modestly higher despite the ongoing back-and-forth on Capitol Hill about the pace of U.S. budget talks.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose nearly 37 points, or 0.28%, to close at 13,022. The Nasdaq gained 20 points, or 0.68%, to settle at 3012 for its first finish above 3000 since Nov. 6.

---

Zynga (ZNGA) and Facebook (FB) modified the terms of their partnership.

Zynga disclosed in a regulatory filing Thursday that it will no longer have to display Facebook ads or use Facebook payments on its own Zynga.com properties. Facebook will be permitted to develop its own games under the new partnership.

---

Apple's (AAPL)iPhone 5 received approval for a "network access" license in China. The final clearance paves the way for a December debut of the iPhone 5 in China, according to Reuters.

---

Citigroup's (C) trading and investment-banking division plans to cut 150 more jobs and shrink bonuses by as much as 10%, Bloomberg reported, citing two people with direct knowledge of the decisions.

---

Splunk (SPLK) posted third-quarter revenue of $52.05 million, up 67% from a year earlier. On a non-GAAP basis, Splunk posted a loss of 1 cent a share. Analysts were looking for a loss of 2 cents a share on $46.67 million in revenue.

Splunk also gave fourth-quarter revenue guidance on Thursday that was above Wall Street estimates.

---

Zumiez (ZUMZ) gave a disappointing outlook on Thursday and quarterly revenue came in below analysts' forecasts.

---

Earnings are expected Friday from Genesco (GCO), Johnson Outdoors (JOUT) and United Natural Foods (UNFI).

---

-- Written by Joseph Woelfel



>To contact the writer of this article, click here: Joseph Woelfel

>To submit a news tip, send an email to: [e-mail].

Copyright 2012 TheStreet.com Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. AP contributed to this report.