10 things you need to know before European markets open
Oil rocketed. The price of oil surged on Wednesday after reports that the oil producers' cartel OPEC has agreed a deal to cut output.
A Goldman Sachs exec is in the frame for a top job. President-elect Donald Trump is considering Goldman Sachs President and Chief Operating Officer Gary Cohn to head the White House budget office or to fill other positions, a Trump transition official said.
RBS is in capital trouble. Royal Bank of Scotland will have to bolster its capital holdings after it failed this year's stress test of seven British lenders, the Bank of England said.
A film producer will be US Treasury secretary. Steven Mnuchin, a Wall Street veteran with ties to Hollywood, said that President-elect Donald Trump has named him to be US Treasury secretary.
EU wants more green energy. Regulators set a path for renewables to power half of Europe by 2030, with plans to cut energy use, phase out subsidies for coal and enforce greater cross-border trade.
GoPro is cutting jobs. The company said on Wednesday it would cut about 15% of its workforce as the company restructures its once fast-growing action camera business.
Lufthansa is trying to put a stop to strikes. It said it had made its German pilots a new wage offer to try to end strikes that are causing hundreds of flight cancellations and costing millions of euros a day.
The US economy is doing well. US private employers added 216,000 jobs in November, well above economists' expectations, a report by a payrolls processor showed.
President Vladimir Putin on named Maxim Oreshkin as Russia's new economy minister. The appointment is a promotion for Oreshkin, who was deputy finance minister.
Political volatility boosted trading. CME Group will set a monthly record for trading volumes in November, a top executive said on Wednesday, as US President-elect Donald Trump's victory has fueled uncertainty in markets.