Morning Market Roundup: Greece Rejected! Nokia Dumped! Japan Shunned!

Here’s what’s important in the financial world this morning:

Greece: On Monday, eurozone finance ministers rejected the private creditors’ offer for Greece’s debts. The negotiators resumed talks for a resolution to avoid a default. The bondholders were asking for a coupon rate of four percent on long-dated bonds in exchange for the current debt while Greece has said it can’t pay more than 3.5 percent. There is hope the deal can be resolved in the next few days.

(Related: Finance Ministers Reject Private Bondholders’ Greek Debt Offer.)

Japan: Japan will likely announce on Wednesday, its first annual trade deficit in a very long time. The country hasn’t had one since 1980 and with the news, economists will warn deficits may be seen for years from the strong yen and weak global demand.

The country is already off to rough start this week as it is expected to report today that it will miss its balanced budget goal by 2020 through its proposed doubled sales tax. The Bank of Japan also cut its fiscal year 2012 growth rate to +2 percent, down from October’s estimated +2.2 percent.

Apple: The tech giant will report its earnings after the bell today and is expected to report a strong fiscal quarter one. Earnings per share is expected to jump 57 percent to $10.08 and revenues will rise 45.3 percent to $38.85 billion. Driving the good numbers for Apple is its robust iPhone 4s sales but concerns remain for the company’s ability to maintain its growth.

Nokia Corp.: Shares plummeted 7 percent after Danske Bank cut the stock’s rating to “Sell” according to Bloomberg. The company’s downgrade comes from declines in shipments for older Symbian phones; Danske Bank doesn’t see Nokia’s Windows Phone compensating for the drop.

On Thursday, Nokia will report its fourth quarter earnings. Investors will keep a close eye on the demand numbers for the Windows Phone. Adding concern about the upcoming report is the wireless business weaknesses announced by Texas Instruments Inc. and STMicroelectronics N.V. on Monday.

[Editor’s note: the above is a cross post that originally appeared on Wall St. Cheat Sheet.]