LONDON -- Stock index futures at 7 a.m. EST indicate that the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI -0.94%) and the S&P 500 (^GSPC -0.57%) may each open 0.5% higher. Yesterday's falls shook CNN's Fear & Greed Index, which closed down to 79 from a previous close of 88 -- although the index remains in "extreme greed" territory.

This morning's economic calendar kicks off with December's CoreLogic home prices index at 8:30 a.m. EST, but the data highlight of the morning is likely to be January's ISM nonmanufacturing PMI, which is due at 10 a.m. EST. Consensus forecasts suggest that the index will read 55, down slightly from 55.7 in December but still showing steady growth.

Corporate earnings remain in full flow, and early results came from NYSE Euronext, which reported fourth-quarter earnings of $0.43 per share versus estimates of $0.40; Eaton, which reported ex-item EPS of $0.82, falling short of estimates of $0.93; and Emerson Electric, which met Wall Street expectations with earnings of $0.62 per share on revenue of $5.6 billion. Other premarkets big hitters are expected to include Kellogg, Sirius XM Radio, Knoll, TECO Energy, Cardinal Health, CME Group, and Becton Dickinson.

Yum! Brands could also be actively traded after the company issued a disappointing trading update last night, causing Yum's share price to fall nearly 6% in premarket trading this morning. Shares in Virgin Media (NASDAQ: VMED) are also likely to rise sharply after the company revealed it is in takeover talks with John Malone's Liberty Global. Virgin Media shares were up 16% in London trading at 7:20 a.m. EST.

After the bell tonight, several high-profile stocks will report, including Disney, Expedia, and Zynga, which is expected to report a loss of $0.03 per share for the fourth quarter.

European markets
European markets moved decisively higher this morning, welcoming news that the eurozone composite PMI rose to 48.6 in January, up from 47.2 in December. At 7:30 a.m. EST, the DAX was up 0.32%, the CAC 40 was up 1%, the FTSE MIB was up 1.2%, and the IBEX 35 was up 1.7%. In London, the FTSE 100 (INDEX: ^FTSE) was 0.63% higher, helped by strong gains from ARM Holdings and BP after both companies released strong fourth-quarter results. ARM was up 3.6% to 924.5 pence, having earlier touched an all-time high of 961 pence.

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