Early weakness tied to geo-political tensions was reversed by German inflation data that provided the European Central Bank with ammunition to increase monetary stimulus. Stock futures were holding onto slim gains as investors digested a flood of mixed earnings from heavy-hitters like Goldman Sachs ( GS ), IBM ( IBM ) and General Electric ( GE ). Nikkei unchanged Hang Seng up 0.28% Shanghai Composite down 0.30% FTSE-100 up 0.42% DAX-30 up 0.60%