Greece was expected to report by noon (5 EST) whether its political parties have agreed to accept austerity proposals, according to a deadline set by Prime Minister Lucas Papademos.

Less than an hour before the deadline, however, a Greek official told Reuters that there is no deadline today.

Via FT’s Chris Adams:

• All notion of a deadline vanishes: Greek official says no deadline on Monday for political leaders to respond to bail-out terms (!) – RTRS
• Greek govt official says only deadline is for Greek govt, EU/IMF inspectors, political leaders to reach a deal before Eurogroup meeting -RTR
• Which all means, as we knew, that EZ ministers will meet if/when a deal is reached, which will be the moment when a deadline is reached. QED

See here who gets clobbered if Greece defaults >

Meanwhile European markets are mostly lower,  lead by the Cac 40 down over 1%.

Dow futures are down 64 points and S&P 500 futures have dropped 8 points.

Asian markets had a better day  catching up to a strong rally in the US on Friday, with the Nikkei up 1.1 percent to a three-month high.

It is a risk off day, tweets WSJ’s Richard Barley, with bunds taking back all of Friday’s sell-off and the yield on the US 10-year declining 7 basis points to 1.86 percent.

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• RUMOR DENIED? Now The Greek Debt Swap Deal Will Be Signed ‘This Week’
• CHART: The 1-Month And 12-Month Return Of Every Major Stock Market In The World
• In Case You Hadn’t Noticed, Everything Is Going Wrong In Greece Right Now

Today was a huge day for the economy. U.S. companies added 243k jobs in January and the unemployment rate fell to 8.3%.

This fueled a major surge in the stock markets, which hit some major milestones.  Both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq hit pre-financial crisis levels.  The Dow closed at 12,862, a 4-year high, and the Nasdaq jumped to 2,905, an 11-year high.

The S&P 500, which is arguably the best snapshot of the U.S. stock markets, hit 1,344, a 6-month high.

Here’s a look at some historical charts courtesy of Yahoo Finance.

SEE ALSO: Wall Street’s Sharpest Minds Predict Where Stocks Are Headed In 2012 >

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• STOCKS GO NOWHERE ON MORE DISAPPOINTING DATA: Here’s What You Need To Know
• Asian Markets Are Mixed After Chinese PMI Beats Expectations
• European Markets Are In Total Melt-Up Mode To Start The New Month

Paul Krugman is giving a talk in Paris, and he’s put up several charts that he says are key to understanding the Eurozone crisis.

This one may be the best, as it debunks the idea that the PIIGS — called the GIPSIs in this chart — were running up debt like crazy.

They weren’t. They had declining ratios, which only exploded once the financial crisis hit.

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See Also:

• Why Portugal Might Be The Real Trigger That Causes The Eurozone To Spiral Out Of Control
• Two Big Lessons From The Dazzling Market Rally In Europe…
• European Markets EXPLODE Higher And Investors Wonder If The Rally Can Last

It’s risk off to start the week.

For the first time in awhile, it feels as though Eurozone jitters are back in people’s bones, as people intently watch Portuguese bond yields (which continue to rise) and the still incomplete Greek debt negotiations.

The selling isn’t too intense or anything.

US futures are down just over 0.5%. And most European markets are down under 1%.

The 10-year Italian bond is back up to 6.056%, after closing on Friday sub-6%.

In Asia, Shanghai ended down a solid 1.4%. Hong Kong fell 1.6%.

Meanwhile, for a look at why the coming week is going to be huge, see here.

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• STOCKS SURGE AND THE FED SEES LOW INTEREST RATES FOR YEARS: Here’s What You Need To Know
• Hong Kong Stocks Jump In First Trading Day Back From Chinese New Year Holiday
• UBS: If You Exclude Apple, Then This Earnings Season Sucks

So, the bidders in today’s Spanish and French bond auctions were unfazed by last Friday’s S&P downgrades of 9 European sovereigns.  Demand was healthy and yields were low.  And credit default swap spreads in both countries tightened, reflecting a decline in perceived credit risk.

Overall, the major European stock markets haven’t really budged since before the auctions.

France’s CAC 40: up 0.6%

England’s FTSE 100: down 0.0%

Germany’s DAX: down 0.2%

Spain’s IBEX 35: up 0.4%

Italy’s FTSE-MIB: up 0.5%

It is however worth noting that the big European banks are going gangbusters.

Deutsche Bank: up 4.8%

Societe Generale:  up 5.7%

Banco Santander: up 1.8%

Barclays: up 4.3%

RBS: up 4.0%

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• European Markets Are Going Nowhere Ahead Of Crucial French And Spanish Bond Auctions
• The Big Economic Data That Will Move Markets On January 18
• WHOOPS: Europe Rally Collapses After Bloomberg Corrects Report About IMF Funding Boost

The 2012 global miracle market rally has stalled in Europe as it awaits some highly anticipated bond auctions.

France’s CAC 40: up 0.4%

England’s FTSE 100: up 0.0%

Germany’s DAX: up 0.0%

Spain is selling up to 4.5 billion euros worth of debt and France is selling up to 9.5 billion worth.  This comes after last Friday’s sovereign debt downgrades by S&P.

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See Also:

• WHEW: French And Spanish Bond Auctions Go Smoothly, Banks Surge
• Here’s A Look At Spain’s Unemployment Rate Versus The Rest Of The Developed World
• There May Be A Simple Explanation For The Weird Rally In Stocks

Asian markets are soaring in early trading tonight.  Granted, the Japanese markets are opening for the first time this year.

Japan’s Nikkei is up 1.1%.

Australia’s S&P/ASX is up 2.0%.

This follows a 1.5% gain in the U.S. stock markets earlier today.

U.S. futures are currently flat in electronic trading.

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• Asian Stocks Are Inching Up On The Final Trading Day Of Year
• CHART OF THE DAY: Here’s How Every Asset Class Performed In 2011
• European Markets Breathe A Sigh And End 2011 On A Positive Day

Happy 2012!

The futures have just begun trading in the U.S., and are indicating a monster open for U.S. stocks.

Dow futures are up over 220.

S&P futures are up over 2%.

Of course, this comes on the heels of a big day in Europe yesterday. Germany’s DAX gained 3% yesterday and is up another 1% or so today.

Other European markets are rallying well.

Meanwhile, there’s plenty of good news to digest: German unemployment data, UK PMI data, and BRIC PMI data have all been strong, so plenty of reasons to buy.

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• STOCKS RALLY ON MORE GOOD HOUSING DATA: Here’s What You Need To Know
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Asian markets are mostly higher, with Shanghai up 1.2% and the Nikkei up 0.6%.

European markets are flat.

Dow futures point to a small drop at the open.

For the year, the S&P 500 is up 5.38 or 0.43%. Even if it finishes in the green, this will have been a throwaway year for stocks.

Gold has recovered to $1562 per ounce after falling to around $1520 yesterday. The euro is also bouncing back against the dollar.

Somehow the Dow remains one of the best performing stock markets of the year.

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• The 11 Best Performing Stock Markets Of The Year
• SLEEP IN: Nothing Happening In Asian Markets To Spoil Your Christmas Vacation
• OUCH: Stocks Are At Intraday Lows And They’re Negative For The Year Again

ORIGINAL POST, SEE UPDATES BELOW: It looked initially like today might be quiet in Europe, a merciful gift to those of us in the US who were hoping for a quiet Thanksgiving.

In fact, there was a pretty solid rally across the board, with yields down and stocks much higher.

But all that’s changed. At a press conference with Nicolas Sarkozy, Angela Merkel, and Mario Monti, talk of an unlimited ECB bailout for all of Europe was downplayed.

Since then markets have turned south.

Italy’s FTSE MIB index is now off 1%. The yield on the Italian 10-year is now back above 7%.

Here’s a look at the intraday behavior of the Italian market, which basically tells you everything you need to know.

Update 11:08 ET: Stocks have come back a bit, and are close to flat. However the Italian 10-year is now above 7.1%.

UPDATE 11:30 ET: European markets have now closed, and the Italian 10-year remains above 7.1%.

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See Also:

• Dow Now ONLY Off 175 After Rumor About Germans Maybe Accepting Eurobonds
• Just Like That, People Are Suddenly Talking About Germany’s Own Fiscal Problems
• NEWSFLASH: Greece Really Is On The Brink Of Default Right Now