Treasuries are backing up and U.S. equities are on a slight rebound this morning even though global bourses turned lower overnight, some sharply so.

Treasuries are a tad weaker: the benchmark 10-year and 30-year yields are each a basis point higher at 2.17% and 3.19%, respectively, while the two-year yield is steady at 0.27%.

S&P 500 futures are up 5 points at 1,211 and Dow futures are up 52 points at 11,496.

Global equities are deep in the red with shares in Hong Kong sliding 1.78%, Japanese shares falling 1% to a two-week low, and Chinese stock dropping 1.94% 

In Europe, the FTSE 100 is currently down 1.56% and the CAC-40 is off 2.27%.

According to the Wall Street Journal, European officials in Frankfurt - including French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel - met late Wednesday and rumors broke out of a rift between key leaders on the package of reforms "expected to be presented by euro-zone leaders at a Brussels summit on Sunday."

Among commodities, light crude oil moved up 0.35% overnight to $86.41 per barrel, while gold prices fell 1.20% to $1,627.30 per ounce.

Note that Microsoft is set to release Q3 earnings after the closing bell.

Key Events Today:

8:30 - The four-week average of Initial Jobless Claims fell 7,000 to 408,000 in the last report. This week, economists predict 400k claims. 

The downward trend appears to have resumed following technical adjustment problems that were "exacerbated by the backlog of claims filings following the arrival of Hurricane Irene in early September," said Nomura Global Economics.

Citigroup notes the four-week moving average could drop to a six-month low. 

"The more than 20,000 person decline in the average from the same period in September suggests some thawing in the labor market," they said. "Claims were particularly elevated in September reflecting a number of special factors, but also general softening in the economy. The continued improvement in filings supports our expectation of faster 2H growth."

10:00 - Despite falling home prices and stimulative mortgage rates, Existing Home Sales are anticipated to fall to an annualized pace of 4.90 million units in September, down from 5.03 million a month before.

"Although mortgage rates have fallen to a historic low below 4% on 30-year fixed loans, and the housing affordability index remains near record highs, these are not the driving factors for housing at this time," said Citigroup. "Mortgage credit availability remains tight and potential buyers are now expected to amass larger down payments, which takes time."

The view is backed by recent data, as noted by IHS Global Insight. "Mortgage applications to buy homes dropped in both August and September, pointing to a drop in existing home sales in September," they said. "The Pending Home Sales Index, which slipped 1.2% in August, also points to a September sales decline."

10:00 - The Philadelphia Fed Index is expected to improve overall but remain in economic contraction for the third straight month. Economists peg the index at -9.9, compared with a weak -17.5 in September and a recessionary -30.7 in August.

"The Philly Fed index has been all over the map this year and not very reflective of economic activity," said Citigroup. "At the start of spring, the index jumped to the highest reading in a quarter century, only to plunge to one of its lowest readings by mid-summer. The economy and other measures of activity exhibit none of these extremes. So, while we expect the Philly measure to settle down to levels consistent with ongoing modest growth in coming months, we take this business gauge with a grain of salt."

10:00 - The Leading Economic Indicators index, a composite gauge that attempts to measure turning points in the economy, should grow by 0.3% in September following prior gains of 0.4% and 0.6%.

"Once again the majority of the gain will come from the yield curve and real money supply components, but higher consumer expectations and better vendor deliveries will also contribute to growth," said Nomura Global Economics.

10:15 - James Bullard, president of the St. Louis Fed, gives opening remarks at the Fall Research Policy Conference in St. Louis.

8:00pm - Narayana Kocherlakota, president of the Minneapolis Fed, speaks to Minnesota Council on Economic Education in Minneapolis.