Morning Briefing: 10 Things You Should Know

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Here are 10 things you should know for Monday, Feb. 25:

1. -- U.S. stock futures were rising Monday, getting a boost from Japanese stocks that jumped following reports that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe planned to nominate a candidate for central bank governor who is a strong advocate of loose monetary policy.

Japan's Nikkei 22 index rose 2.4% to end at 11,662.52. Other Asian indices ended mixed.

European shares were higher in early trading Monday.

---

2. -- The economic calendar in the U.S. Monday includes the Chicago Fed's national activity index for February at 8:30 a.m. EST.

---

3. -- U.S. stocks on Friday rallied and the Dow Jones Industrial Average erased losses from two consecutive down sessions.

The Dow gained 120 points, or 0.9%, to finish Friday at 14,001. The index has gained 6.8% this year.

The S&P 500 added 13 points, or 0.9%, to 1,516. The index dropped 0.3% for the week. Nasdaq rose 30 points, or 1%, to close Friday at 3,162. It lost 0.95% last week.

---

4. -- Japan's Abe is expected to nominate Asian Development Bank President Haruhiko Kuroda to take the reins at the nation's central bank, according to published media reports.

Citing anonymous sources, Reuters and The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that the government planned to appoint Kuroda, a proponent of an expansionary monetary policy, to be chief of the Bank of Japan.

---

5. -- Barnes & Noble (BKS) Chairman Leonard Riggio has expressed interest in buying out the company's consumer-bookstore chain , The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the situation.

---

6. -- Knight Capital Group (KCG), which is being acquired by Getco LLC, plans to sell its credit-brokerage unit to Stifel Financial (SF), Bloomberg reported, citing people with knowledge of the matter.

---

7. -- Google's (GOOG) Android unit has been negotiating with music companies to start a paid subscription music-streaming service similar to Spotify AB, the Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

---

8. -- Microsoft (MSFT) could unveil its next generation videogame console, the Xbox 720, in April, according to reports.

The reports follow Sony's (SNE) introduction last week of the PlayStation 4 console.

---

9. -- Home-improvement retailer Lowe's (LOW) is expected by analysts Monday to post fourth-quarter earnings of.23 cents a share on revenue of $10.84 billion.

---

10. -- "Argo" won best picture at the Academy Awards on Sunday night.

---

-- 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 2013 TheStreet.com Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. AP contributed to this report.