10 things you need to know before European markets open
Brazil's president is going on trial. Brazil's Senate voted on Thursday to put leftist President Dilma Rousseff on trial in a historic decision brought on by a deep recession and a corruption scandal that will now confront her successor, Vice President Michel Temer.
The French government survived. France's embattled Socialist government survived a vote of no-confidence over its decision to force a labour reform bill though parliament. The centre-right opposition fell short of the 288 votes required to bring down the government.
Bayer is bidding for Monsanto. The chemical and pharmaceutical giant Bayer AG is considering making a bid for the agrochemical company Monsanto, Bloomberg reported. The combined company would become the largest farm-chemicals- and seeds-supplier in the world, according to the report.
US interest rate rises will come later. The US Federal Reserve will likely wait until September before raising interest rates again, stretching to nine months the time since its first hike in nearly a decade, as it waits for clear signs inflation is picking up, a Reuters poll found.
Singapore's finance minister had a stroke. Singapore Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat suffered a stroke and collapsed during a cabinet meeting on Thursday, the prime minister's office said.
Austria is getting a new chancellor. The head of Austria's railways, Christian Kern, is emerging as the favorite to become chancellor as the ruling Social Democratic Party (SPO) debates whom to pick as a successor to Werner Faymann, who stepped down this week.
Marks & Spencer is getting a shake-up. The new boss of Marks & Spencer has shaken-up the executive team. Steve Rowe, who succeeded Marc Bolland as chief executive of the 132-year-old institution last month, reduced the number of executive director roles from the six Bolland favored to four.
Goldman Sachs is going after a new area. The lender is hosting its first ever leveraged finance conference next week as the Wall Street bank looks to strengthen its position in debt underwriting, where it has traditionally been weak.
China's corruption crack down has claimed another scalp. China has expelled a former senior diplomat for graft, including joining private clubs, accepting gifts and bribes, and trading power for sex. Zhang Kunsheng, a former assistant foreign minister was sacked from his government post.
Juncker said Brexit would be a catastrophe. The head of the European Commission said on Thursday it would be a catastrophe if Britain voted to leave the European Union, but he did not expect that to happen.