10 Things You Need To Know Before European Markets Open

Good morning! Here are the major stories you need to hear about before markets in London and Paris open.

JP Morgan Downgraded The US Stock Market. JP Morgan on Monday downgraded its view of the US stock market, reversing from a bullish view to a bearish one as valuations relative to Europe had "turned outright expensive."'

The US Senate Is Heading For A Vote On The Keystone Pipeline. Backers of the Keystone XL oil pipeline hope a vote in the US Senate late on Tuesday will send a bill to the desk of President Barack Obama.

European Carmakers Had The Best October For Five Years. Sales are up 6.5% on the same month last year in Europe, despite poor economic performance generally, according to the Financial Times.

Japan Is Poised For A Snap Election. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is expected to announce on Tuesday that he will delay an unpopular sales tax rise and call a snap election.

Asian Markets Were Very Mixed. Japan's Nikkei closed up 2.18%, erasing much of the drop seen on Monday as terrible GDP data were released. In comparison, Hong Kong's Hang Seng is currently trading down 0.87%.

Traders Aren't Using The Hong Kong-Shanghai Stocks Link Much. Investors largely turned away from the link-up between the Hong Kong and Shanghai stock exchanges on Tuesday, a day after it launched to much fanfare and ambitions for billions of dollars in daily cross-border transactions.

The UN Says Fewer Babies Will Be An Economic Miracle For Africa. Fewer babies could mean an "economic miracle" for sub-Saharan Africa, with gains of $500 billion (£319.4 billion) a year over three decades for the region, the UN Population Fund said Tuesday.

Hong Kong Police Are Preparing To Clear Out Protesters. Hong Kong authorities on Tuesday prepared to clear part of a key area of the heart of the city that has been occupied by pro-democracy demonstrators for nearly two months.

UK Inflation And German Confidence Are Coming. UK CPI figures are out at 9.30 a.m. GMT, with analysts expecting a modest jump to 1.3%. German investor confidence figures are out at 10 a.m. GMT, which should give a hint at the state of Europe's largest economy in November.

Chinese House Prices Dropped For A Second Month. According to the Financial Times, Chinese property prices dropped by the steepest amount in October since the current data series began three years ago.