10 things you need to know before European markets open
Germany's Angela Merkel and Greece's Alexis Tsipras are meeting today. It's the new Greek prime minister's first official visit to Berlin. According to a letter seen by the Financial Times, Tsipras warned Merkel that it will be "impossible" for his country to service debt obligations due in coming weeks if the European Union does not give his country any short-term financial assistance.
France's far-right Front National did not win in local elections over the weekend. Former president Nicolas Sarkozy's conservative UMP party and their allies led in the first round of French local elections, early results showed on Sunday, denying Marine Le Pen's far-right National Front (FN) first place.
Spain's opposition socialists won in Andalusian elections. Spain's establishment Socialists won regional elections in Andalusia, with the conservative People's Party, in power nationally, coming second and upstart Podemos making a strong headway, but coming third.
Italy's Pirelli is about to get bought by a Chinese firm. China National Chemical Corp (ChemChina) and the shareholders of Pirelli were putting the final touches on a deal that will trigger a €7 billion ($7.5 billion) buyout of the Italian tire company, four sources close to the matter said on Sunday.
Draghi is speaking. The ECB chief addresses the European parliament at 2 p.m. GMT (10 a.m. ET). The day is light for economic data and given the recent volatility in the euro-dollar exchange rate, any comments that take people by surprise could move markets.
Senator Ted Cruz is running for US President in 2016. Senator Ted Cruz (a Texas Republican) launched his presidential campaign shortly after midnight on Monday with a brief message and video he posted on Twitter. "I'm running for President and I hope to earn your support!" Cruz wrote in his tweet.
The Bank of Japan says things are still on track, despite the fall in inflation. Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said he told Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday that inflation is slowing due to a decline in oil prices but there is no change in the long-term rising trend for consumer prices as the economy improves.
New York's chief regulator is taking aim at Deutsche Bank. Benjamin Lawsky, New York state's financial services regulator, has added himself to the regulators investigating Deutsche Bank AG for manipulation of the Libor benchmark borrowing rate, the Financial Times reported on Sunday, citing unnamed sources.
Asian markets are up. Hong Kong's Hang Seng is currently 0.38% higher, Japan's Nikkei closed 0.99% above Friday's level and China's Shanghai Composite is currently up 1.49%.
Nobel Prize winner Robert Shiller says fear is driving stocks. Fear rather than euphoria is currently driving global stock markets to new highs, Nobel Economics laureate Robert Shiller said in a German newspaper interview on Sunday.