10 things you need to know before European markets open
Greece has five days to avoid Grexit. European leaders have made clear that Greece has until Sunday to find a reasonable bailout agreement and avoid defaulting, according to the Financial Times. The Greek government says it has now presented its plans, but we've yet to see the content or reactions from the rest of the continent.
According to the Telegraph, Greece's referendum was called with the expectation that "Yes" would win. Writing in The Telegraph on Tuesday, Ambrose Evans-Pritchard reports that the Greek referendum unexpectedly called last Friday and held this past Sunday, was called in anticipation that Greece's controlling Syriza government would lose.
The UK's budget is coming. At 12:30 p.m. UK time (7:30 a.m. New York), UK Chancellor George Osborne will get up to present the year's budget, his first with a Conservative-majority government.
Asian shares are tumbling. As of 6:45 a.m. London time (1:45 a.m. New York), Hong Kong's Hang Seng is down 4.27%, followed down by China's Shanghai Composite, which is down 4.17%. Japan's Nikkei is down too, 2.63% lower.
Nearly half the Chinese stock market isn't trading. The South China Morning Post reports that 51% of mainland Chinese stocks, representing some US$2.2 trillion in market capitalisation, have asked for voluntary suspensions from trade.
The Iran talks have about 48 hours to be completed. "We've come to the end," a source close to the talks told Reuters. "We have just made one, final extension. It is hard to see how or why we would go beyond this. Either it happens in the next 48 hours, or not."
AirAsia shares fell on an Indonesian issue. Shares of AirAsia Bhd fell as much as 1.3% in early trade on Wednesday after Indonesia threatened to suspend the operating license of its unit there unless the company raised new equity by the end of the month.
JP Morgan is reportedly about to settle another legal probe. JP Morgan has agreed to pay at least $125 million to settle probes by U.S. state and federal authorities that the bank sought to improperly collect and sell consumer credit card debt, according to people familiar with the matter.
Fiat Chrysler signed a major union deal. Carmaker Fiat Chrysler and tractor manufacturer CNH Industrial signed a four-year labour deal for workers in Italy on Tuesday, in a sign of improving relations with unions. The 2015-18 agreement, which applies to all 85,000 employees of the two companies in the country, includes a performance-based compensation scheme linked to the achievement of certain efficiency and profitability targets.
Symantec is selling its data storage unit. Software security company Symantec Corp is in talks to sell its Veritas data storage business to private equity firm Carlyle Group, a person familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.