Good morning. Here's what you need to know.
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Asian markets sold off in overnight trading with the Shanghai Composite falling nearly 3 percent following a selloff in the resource sector on weaker commodity prices, and on concerns about liquidity in the market. Europe is getting slammed and U.S. futures are lower.
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Euro area composite index of services and manufacturing PMI fell to 47.3 in February, from 48.6 the previous month. A reading below 50 indicates contraction. The 25 most miserable places in the world >
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Initial claims climbed to 362K, above expectations of a rise to 355,000. Meanwhile, core consumer prices were up 0.3 percent, and headline CPI stayed flat. Flash PMI for February at 8:58 am ET. Consensus is for flash PMI to decline to 55.5. Follow the release at Business Insider >
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Wal-Mart beat expectations when it reported earnings of $1.67 per share, above estimates of $1.57 per share. Revenue of $127.1 billion however came in shy of expectations. It also issued Q1 guidance of $1.11 to $1.16 per share, lower than consensus of $1.19.
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Tesla's stock took a beating in after hours trading after the company reported Q4 loss of $0.65 per share. It did however report revenue of $306 million beating revenue expectations. The company expects to generate "slightly positive" net income in Q1 2013. Tesla is about to turn its first profit ever – here's how it got there >
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The UK budget surplus excluding support for banks widened to £11.4 billion in January, compared with £6.4 billion a year ago. The budget surplus widened as the Treasury received its first payment from the Bank of England's QE program.
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The People's Bank of China let 910 billion yuan exit the interbank market this week and returned to using longer-term foreign repos for the first time since June, to drain funds, according to CNBC. This has raised concerns about liquidity in the market, though some think this is just to offset record injection made during the Chinese New Year holiday. 10 ways Chinese manufacturing makes the rest of the world look tiny >
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Existing home sales for January and the Philadelphia Fed Survey for February are out at 10 a.m. ET. Consensus is for existing home sales to decline to an annual rate of 4.90 million, and for the general business conditions index to rise to 1.1. Follow the release at Business Insider >
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Boeing will meet with regulators today to present a redesign of the 787 Dreamliner battery that they believe could have the jet back in use in weeks. The battery will have insulation made of heat resistant glass, a vent mechanism for fumes, and a harder case to contain fires, according to Bloomberg.