10 things you need to know before European markets open
Europe's latest growth forecasts are coming. The European Commission's forecasts for growth and inflation in the coming years are out at 10 a.m. London time (5 a.m. ET). Given the solid indicators recently, it's reasonable to expect big improvements in the projections.
Two huge European cement firms just got permission to merge from the US. Holcim, a Swiss company, and Lafarge, which is based in Paris, on Monday won US antitrust approval to merge after they agreed to divest assets, the Federal Trade Commission said.
EU Commission chief Jean Claude Juncker says the UK can't impose its agenda on the EU. Britain should get a fair deal in the European Union but cannot impose its agenda on the bloc's other 27 members, EU chief executive Jean-Claude Juncker said on Monday, weighing in on a sensitive issue in a tight British election race.
The latest UK election polling shows the main parties tied. Ahead of Britain's parliamentary election on Thursday, Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservatives and the opposition Labour Party are tied at 33%, according to a YouGov opinion poll for the Sun newspaper published on Monday.
Australia's central bank just slashed interest rates to 2%, an all-time low. Australia's central bank cut its cash rate a quarter point to an all-time low of 2% on Tuesday, aiming to spur a sluggish domestic economy while keeping downward pressure on the local dollar.
Venezuela is facing widespread electricity rationing. The government said last week that a plan to ration and otherwise adjust energy usage would go into effect to address increasing demand, which has been spurred on in part by a recent rise in temperatures. The measures of the rationing plan include reducing workday length for some public officials to six hours and the inspecting of factories and malls.
A Brazilian judge lifted the suspension on Uber in the country. A Brazilian judge on Monday struck down an injunction issued last week calling for the suspension of the US-based Uber ride-sharing service throughout the country.
PIMCO no longer has the biggest bond fund in the world. In a statement on Monday, the company said monthly net outflows continued to decline in April, and it saw $5.6 billion (£3.7 billion) walk out the door. That brought the asset under management in fund, once run by Bill Gross, down to $110.4 billion. Meanwhile, Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund had $117.3 billion as at April 30, according to data cited by Bloomberg.
Morgan Stanley could lose nearly $300 million from a Deutsche Bank lawsuit. Morgan Stanley said on Monday it could lose more than $290 million (£191.7 million) from a lawsuit by Deutsche Bank over the quality of about $735 million of the Wall Street firm's mortgages. Deutsche Bank in April last year filed a complaint that alleged Morgan Stanley had falsely represented the quality of the loans, the US bank said in a regulatory filing.
Chinese stocks are down. While Japan's Nikkei is pretty much flat, up 0.06%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng is down 1.25%, and the Shanghai Composite has tumbled down 2.76%.