10 Things You Need To Know Before European Markets Open

Apple's Latest Results Beat Expectations Heavily. In the final three months of 2014, Apple recorded earnings per share of $3.06, up 48%, versus $2.60 expected. Its iPhone units hit 74.5 million, up 46% and versus 65 million expected.

Yahoo Is Spinning Off Its Remaining Share Of Alibaba. Yahoo just announced its earnings, but the biggest news is that it will spin its stake in Alibaba out into a separate company. Existing investors will get shares in the new company, dubbed SpinCo. The stock rose about 7% after hours.

Investors Expect The Fed To Tread Water Today. The Federal Reserve is expected to signal it remains on track to begin raising interest rates later this year, as the central bank shows confidence that low inflation and rising risks from abroad have yet to derail the U.S. economic recovery.

LG Display Just Saw Its Best Profits In Four Years. Operating profit more than doubled for the October-December period from a year earlier to 625.8 billion won ($580.14 million).

Asian Markets Are Mixed. Japan's Nikkei closed up basically flat, up just 0.15%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng is currently up 0.34%, but the Shanghai Composite index is down 0.88%.

JP Morgan Profited From The Swiss Franc Move. JP Morgan made between $250 and $300 million from the Swiss franc's tumultuous move earlier this month, according to Bloomberg's Julia Verlaine. The currency moved violently after the Swiss National Bank announced that it would de-peg it from the euro. Major banks like Citigroup and Deutsche Bank each lost around $150 million in the fallout.

Brazil's Government Is Doubling Down On Fiscal Austerity. Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff urged her cabinet on Tuesday to embrace fiscal belt-tightening and other measures aimed at restoring business confidence and growth in her second term.

German Consumer Confidence Is At Its Highest In At Least 8 Years. GfK's consumer confidence index just hit its highest level in at least eight years, rising to 9.3. Analysts were expecting a jump to 9.1, from 9 in January's figure.

Sony Looks Likely To Cut 1,000 More Smartphone Jobs. Sony Corp plans to cut another 1,000 jobs in its smartphone division, mainly in Europe and China, the Nikkei business daily reported. The cuts are in addition to the 1,000 jobs Sony said it would eliminate in its mobile unit in October, the Nikkei said.

The Big US-Asian Trade Deal Is Close. The chief US negotiator says parties are nearing an agreement on the Trans-Pacific Partnership is within sight, according to the Financial Times.