Asia

• U.S. Economy Expected to Show Momentum, Despite Storms (WSJ)
• As Trump tax comes to floor, failure could spell stocks selloff (Reuters)
• Washington’s Biggest Mystery: What’s in the Republican Tax Plan? (BBG)
• Spain set to impose direct rule in Catalonia as crisis spirals (Reuters)
• Catalans Send Emissary to Madrid to Plead for a Deal (BBG)
• Catalan Leader Runs Out of Options as Streets Demand Secession (BBG)
• Trump releases some JFK files, blocks others under pressure (Reuters)

US equity futures are higher, boosted by a bevy of better than expected earnings out of tech giants Amazon, Intel and Microsoft as Asian stocks and European shares climb amid the dovish sentiment unleashed from Thursday’s ECB update.

US equity futures and Asian shares are flat this morning with European shares treading water ahead of the ECB's policy meeting in which it’s expected to announce a tapering to its €60bn in monthly QE. On this busiest day of Q3 earnings season, companies set to report earnings include Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon and Intel, while we also get data on jobless claims and wholesale inventories.

Share prices of Indian state banks surged as the government announced it would hand over $32bn to recapitalize the sector. According to Reuters, the motivation was a bid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to tackle a major drag on the economy that has frustrated his attempts to boost growth.

S&P futures are fractionally in the red while traders await President Trump’s pick for Fed chair and more clues on the fate of tax reform; Asian stocks slide, European shares are little changed ahead of tomorrow's ECB tapering announcement as US 10Y yields finally break out of their multi-month range below 2.40%...