10 things you need to know before European markets open
Greece says its cash crunch is coming within two weeks. Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis warned Monday that his debt-wracked country would face a cash crunch within two weeks, and was in an urgent need of the last tranche of rescue funds from its €240 billion ($268.30 billion, £172.24 billion) bailout.
Volkswagen is breaking up part of its business. Volkswagen Group will break up MAN and transfer its truck and bus businesses, as well as MAN Latin America, into VW's new Truck & Bus Holding GmbH, German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung said.
Italian PM Matteo Renzi had a strong showing in some small elections in northern Italy. Center-left parties won local ballots in the small Italian regions of Val d'Aosta and Trentino-Alto Adige, results showed on Monday, offering encouragement to Prime Minister Matteo Renzi ahead of bigger regional elections at the end of the month.
Poland's President officially came second in the initial round of voting. Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski was pushed into a second place spot by a conservative challenger in Sunday's presidential election, and must now face him in a run-off on May 24, official results showed on Tuesday. The results put Komorowski on 33.77% of the vote, behind conservative Andrzej Duda on 34.76%.
Asian markets are mixed. Hong Kong's Hang Seng is down 0.33%, followed down by Japan's Nikkei, which is 0.18% lower. Shanghai stocks are still climbing though, up 0.89%.
El Nino is here. An El Nino has formed and models indicate a "substantial" weather event, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) said on Tuesday. The El Nino, or a warming of sea-surface temperatures in the Pacific, causes heavy rains and floods in South America and scorching weather in Asia and even east Africa.
China is now the world's biggest oil importer. According to the Financial Times, Chinese trade data revealed that crude imports jumped 13% in April. Hitting a total of 3.029 million metric tons -- or about 222 million barrels. That now puts China's consumption ahead of the US.
A judge's ruling against Nomura could mean a massive fine for the bank. A US judge on Monday ruled that Nomura made false statements in selling mortgage-backed securities to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac ahead of the 2008 financial crisis. US District Judge Denise Cote in Manhattan ruled for the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the conservator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, in a ruling that could allow the U.S. regulator to recover around $450 million ($288.96 million, €402.70 million).
Goldman Sachs has been ordered to pay out $80 million (£51.37 million) Goldman Sachs has been ordered to pay $80 million, plus interest, to the National Australia Bank for breaches associated with the sale of mortgage-linked securities, according to a court filing. The May 7 decision, that came from an arbitration panel under the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, granted NAB's request for compensation and also awarded interest at a 3 percent annual rate since December 2006.