Morning Briefing: 10 Things You Should Know

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- U.S. stock futures were suggesting Wall Street would open higher Tuesday ahead of a number of major earnings reports and after the Bank of Japan promised open-ended stimulus.

European stocks were trading slightly lower. The Eurogroup said Monday that Netherlands Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem has been named its new president.

Asian shares ended Tuesday's session mixed. Japan's Nikkei 225 index fell 0.4% to close at 10,709.93.

Japan's central bank concluded a two-day policy meeting by setting a 2% inflation target and announcing open-ended asset purchases that will pump money into the financial system.

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The economic calendar in the U.S. Tuesday includes the Chicago Fed national activity index at 8:30 a.m. EST, and existing-home sales for December at 10 a.m.

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U.S. stocks on Friday ended mixed Friday as the benchmark S&P 500 worked its way up to a five-year high.

The S&P 500 climbed 5 points, or 0.3%, to 1,486, bringing its gain to 0.95% for the week. The index reached its highest close since Dec. 26, 2007.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 54 points, or 0.4%, to 13,650. The Nasdaq fell 1 point to close at 3,135.

Stock markets were closed Monday in the U.S. in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

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Google (GOOG) reports after Tuesday's closing bell and analysts expect the search giant to post fourth-quarter earnings of $10.50 a share on revenue of $12.4 billion.

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IBM (IBM) is expected by Wall Street to report earnings of $5.25 a share in the fourth quarter on sales of $29.1 billion.

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Verizon Communications (VZ) is expected by analysts to post a profit of 50 cents a share on revenue of $29.83 billion in the fourth quarter.

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DuPont (DD) is expected by analysts Tuesday to post quarterly earnings of 7 cents a share.

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Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) is expected by Wall Street Tuesday to post fourth-quarter earnings of $1.17 a share on revenue of $17.67 billion.

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Shares of Research In Motion (RIMM) surged to a 13-month high on Monday in Toronto after CEO Thorsten Heins reportedly told a German newspaper the company could sell its handset business or license its software to rivals following the launch of its new BlackBerry 10 operating system.

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Apple (AAPL) reportedly plans three new smartphones this year. The first two are new iPhone models -- a 4-inch iPhone 5S device and a 4.8-inch device named iPhone Math.

MarketWatch said the report surfaced originally in the Taiwan-based Commercial Times, then in the China Times.

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-- Written by Joseph Woelfel



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