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The Before the Bell report is constantly updated to reflect the latest news developments and market moves in the premarket. Check back later for updates.

Stock futures are moving up this morning in choppy trading, getting a big boost from a solid earnings beat from U.S. financial giant Citigroup. But it's a nervous market, with traders still licking their wounds after the sharp selloff last week in equities, especially in the technology sector.

S&P 500 futures are up about 0.4 per cent after trading flat earlier this morning before the Citibank results hit. The bank's shares are up nearly 4 per cent now in the premarket after far surpassing Street estimates on both profits and revenues. The results came as a relief after JPMorgan kicked off the earnings season for the banks in disappointing fashion last week.

There was more good news emerging from the economic front as well, as U.S. retail sales for March came in stronger than expected, posting their biggest gain in one-and-a-half years.

One big concern this morning is on the geopolitical front. Market players are closely watching the latest developments in the Ukraine, where political tensions are flaring up again.

Pro-Russian separatists took control of the Ukrainian city of Slaviansk on Saturday, prompting a warning by Ukraine to disarm or face military action. A deadline to do so has come and gone, and reports suggest there have been no outward signs the rebels were complying with the ultimatum.  The United Nations Security council is holding an emergency meeting today to discuss the crisis, amid growing concerns that all this could lead to a Russian-backed civil war.

The Ukrainian crisis is being particularly felt in commodities, with palladium up more than 1 per cent and nickel more than 2 per cent. Russia is a major producer of both metals. Wheat prices are also getting a boost. Moscow's main stock market is down about 1 per cent.

Now, here's a closer look at what's going on this morning and what's to come.

MARKETS:

Equities:

Futures: S&P 500 +0.41 per cent; Dow +0.33 per cent; Nasdaq +0.46 per cent; S&P Toronto +0.27 per cent

Hong Kong's Hang Seng +0.15 per cent

Shanghai composite index +0.07 per cent

Japan's Nikkei -0.36 per cent

London's FTSE 100 +0.14 per cent

Germany's DAX +0.05 per cent

France's CAC 40 +0.07 per cent

Commodities:

WTI crude oil (Nymex Jun) +0.08 per cent at $102.74 (U.S.) a barrel

Gold (Comex Jun) +0.33 per cent at $1,323.30 (U.S.) an ounce

Copper (Comex May) +0.28 per cent at $3.05 (U.S.) a pound

Currencies:

Canadian dollar at 91.05 (U.S.), down 0.0006

U.S. dollar index up 0.25 at 79.70

Bonds:

U.S. 10-year Treasury yield 2.63 per cent, up 0.01

ECONOMIC INDICATORS:

U.S. retail sales for March rose 1.1 per cent from February. The consensus was for a 0.8 per cent rise, after gaining 0.3 per cent in February.

STOCKS TO WATCH:

Citibank reported first-quarter adjusted EPS of $1.30, beating the Street estimate of $1.14. Revenues of $20.1-billion also beat the Street estimate of $18.3-billion. Shares are up nearly 4 per cent in the premarket.

Other earnings today include: Amica Mature, Sirius XM Canada, Theratechnologies, Charles Schwab, M&T Bank.

TransGlobe Energy Corp. says a deal to be acquired by Caracal Energy Inc. is off. Instead, TransGlobe said it has received an unsolicited cash takeover offer from global giant Glencore Xstrata PLC.

Denison Mines said it will acquire International Enexco.

LNG supplier Stabilis Energy said it would buy most of the U.S. assets of Encana Natural Gas Inc, a unit of Encana Corp. Terms were not disclosed.

Facebook is getting ready to launch financial services, which would let people make payments and store their money via its social network, the Financial Times reported.

Herbalife shares will be in the spotlight again following reports Friday that the company is under investigation by the FBI and Department of Justice, in addition to an existing probe from the Federal Trade Commission. Hedge fund manager Bill Ackman has accused the company of being a pyramid scheme.

ANALYST ACTIONS:

Scotia Capital downgraded Rogers Communications to "sector perform" from "outperform."

Credit Suisse downgraded Enbridge to "neutral" from "outperform."

Jefferies downgraded Johnson & Johnson to "hold" from "buy" with a price target of $105 (U.S.), citing recent outperformance in its share price.

Jefferies upgraded Eli Lilly to "hold" from "underperform" and raised its price target to $54 (U.S.).

Baird upgraded MasterCard to "outperform" from "neutral" with a price target of $83 (U.S.).

THIS MORNING'S TOP INVESTING LINKS:

Don't ignore momentum when it comes to investing. And be careful about shifting to defensive sectors.

Most investors have no idea what they're doing.

Stocks don't always sink when interest rates rise.

What price compression is.

Stock market bull Jeremy Siegel thinks his Dow at 18,000 prediction may now not come true.

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For instant headlines on breaking economic and corporate news in the premarket, follow Darcy Keith on Twitter at @eyeonequities.

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