Europe

• The Patriots’ Insane Comeback: One for the History Books (WSJ)
• Euro fades in face of French election risks (Reuters)
• Legal battles to test Trump and his travel ban (Reuters)
• Standoff Looms Over Travel Ban; Trump Rips Judge (WSJ)
• Trump Set to Attend NATO Summit in May (WSJ)
• Trump Administration Aims to Sever Russia’s Iran Ties (WSJ)
• Draghi Takes the Case for QE to Brussels (BBG)
• Tiger Hedge Funds Become Wall Street Prey (WSJ)
• Iran's missile test 'not a message' to Trump (Reuters)

In the latest political twist in the French presidential race, AFP has reported that recent French presidential frontrunner Francois Fillon, who has been embroiled in a major graft scandal, will hold a press conference at 4 p.m. at his campaign headquarters in Paris, at which many traders are expecting he will announce that he is stepping down, although according to subsequent Reuters reports Fillon may launch a "fightback" against the fake job scandal that has sent his standing in the polls crashing

In a relatively quiet session, which may see US traders sleep in a bit after last night's Superbowl thriller, European and Asian shares rose ahead of Mario Draghi’s testimony at the European Parliament, while US equity futures were fractionally higher (up 0.1% to 2,293) after stocks jumped the most in a week, as traders assessed the trajectory for interest rates while scrutinizing every new Trump tweet.

Submitted by Raul Ilargi Meijer via The Automatic Earth blog,

Germany’s Social Democrats narrowed the gap with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s bloc to the closest in more than four years, reinforcing a poll bounce after they chose outsider Martin Schulz to challenge Europe’s longest-serving leader. As Bild reports, the 6-point surge in opposition support was the biggest ever recorded for the party... and may explain why German sovereign risk spiked to its highest since Brexit.