Quick Overview

• Brazil’s cuts benchmark interest rate to 10.5%
• Brazil's unemployment rate fell to a record-low 4.7% in December from the 5.3% in the same period in 2010

• French consumers' sentiment improved to minus 57 this month from minus 61 in December but "remains notably below their long term average."

• Korea’s business survey index , which gauges local manufacturers' assessment of current business conditions, fell 2 points MoM to 78 in January.

• Netflix, shares rose 21% to $115.14 on the back of strong fourth-quarter results

• Japanese retail sales rose 2.5%
• YoY Japan's consumer price index fell 0.1% in December

• Starbucks Q1 profit rose 10% to $382.1 million, or 50 cents a share, up from $346.6 million, or 45 cents a share, in the same 2011 period. Revenue rose 16% to a record $3.4 billion. Comparable store sales worldwide were up 9%.

• 3M reported net earnings of $954 million, or $1.35 per share, compared with $928 million, or $1.28 per share, a year earlier.

• Nokia sold well over 1 million Windows Phone units in Q4 of 2011. That may have nearly doubled Microsoft's smartphone market share. Nokia said it lost almost $1.4 billion in Q4, compared with a profit of 745 million Euros a year earlier. Sales at Nokia fell 21% to 10 billion Euros from 12.65 billion Euros a year earlier. Operating profit fell by more than half during the period to 478 million Euros, from 1.1 billion Euros a year earlier.