of Rome, where the Italy's government survived a confidence motion on its austerity package.

Overnight Asia-Pacific markets enjoyed a respite from the intense selling of the past week, led by mainland Chinese stocks. The yuan rose strongly against the dollar in what many traders saw as a stealth intervention on the part of the Chinese central bank. That move helped to support asset prices.

The U.S. Dollar Index fell as the euro, Swedish krona, and Swiss franc bounced higher from lows set earlier this week. That's helping lift the price of commodities, including energy, most agricultural products, industrial metals, and precious metals. Copper was last up more than 1.8 percent. Gold is gaining just over 1 percent, and silver is up 1.6 percent.

In stock-specific news, shares of Research In Motion are setting fresh lows after the company issued a disappointing earnings report after yesterday's close. The company also announced that its new line of smart phones would be delayed once again , raising questions on their ability to compete against Apple and Android-based rivals.

Zynga priced its initial public offering at $10, the high end of its range. The IPO is for 100 million shares and wasn't increased. Shares of Zynga will trade under the symbol "ZNGA".

Darden Restaurants could trade lower today after missing earnings expectations by $0.02 per share. The company did however reaffirm its outlook for 2012.

Morton's Restaurants received a private offer from Landry's Tilman Fertitta at $6.90 per share. Fertitta already owned 5 percent of Morton's.

Next week 12 S&P 500 companies will announce earnings results. Red Hat will be the first of the group to report on Monday.

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