U.S. equity index futures point to opening bounce U.S. Dec housing starts, building permits > estimates Euro STOXX 600 index rises ~0.7% Dollar, bitcoin dip; gold, crude up U.S. 10-Year Treasury yield edges down to ~1.87% Jan 19 - Welcome to the home for real-time coverage of markets brought to you by Reuters reporters. You can share your thoughts with us at markets.research@thomsonreuters.com NASDAQ 100: CAN THIS VIXEN COOPERATE? (0900 EST/1400 GMT) The Nasdaq 100 index (.NDX) ended Tuesday down a little more than 8% from its November 19 record close. Meanwhile, despite the Nasdaq 100"s recent drubbing, the CBOE Nasdaq 100 Volatility index (.VXN) has yet to surpass its December 3rd high: NDXVXN01192022B NDXVXN01192022B The VXN spiked to a high of 36.64 on December 3. Since then, and despite lower NDX lows on either an intraday or closing basis, the VXN has been making lower highs. It ended Tuesday at 29.36. Of note, since early 2020, the six biggest NDX declines from record-high territory ultimately saw lows accompanied by a lower VXN high on a multi-week/multi-month basis. This as the spikes in the implied volatility measure were either their most intense earlier on in the declines, or were less severe vs the most recent period of instability. Therefore, traders will be watching Nasdaq 100 volatility closely vs its 36.64 early-December high. A calming VXN can coincide with an unfolding NDX recovery attempt. That said, a VXN thrust above 36.64 will cause this pattern to reset, suggesting the potential for much greater NDX weakness. read more (Terence Gabriel) ***** FOR WEDNESDAY"S MARKETS" POSTS PRIOR TO 0900 EST/1400 GMT - CLICK HERE: read more