10 Things You Need To Know Before The Opening Bell
Dec 31, 2013, 18:14 IST
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- Markets in Asia saw mostly gains in holiday-shortened sessions. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index climbed 0.26%, while the Shanghai Composite was up 0.88%. Japan's Nikkei and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 were closed. For the year, the Shanghai composite finished down 6.8%, while the Hang Seng was basically unchanged, Bloomberg said.
- In Europe, the Stoxx Europe 600 index gained 0.2% and finished the year with a 17% gain. The DAX fell 0.4% Tuesday but climbed 25% on the year. London's FTSE was up 0.3% on the day and 14% on the year. France's CAC 40 was also up 0.3% on the day, and 17% on the year, according to Marketwatch. U.S. futures were pointing higher.
- 71% of Americans still use Facebook, but tend to use more than one social networking site overall, according to a new Pew study reported by the FT's Hannah Kuchler - a sign, she said, that fears over threats to Facebook's dominance may be misplaced. "Of the nearly 1,500 adults surveyed, 42 per cent said they used two or more social sites, compared with 36 per cent who said they frequented only one, usually Facebook. Affluent men were heavy users of LinkedIn, while Pinterest was more popular with women."
- Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway will pay about $1 billion to acquire a division of Phillips 66 that produces a product which speeds oil pipeline flows. "In an unusual move, Berkshire will pay for the deal not in cash or in Berkshire stock but by handing over around 19 million of the Phillips 66 shares that Mr Buffett holds in Berkshire's investment portfolio," the FT's Steven Foley wrote. "Phillips 66 is in the middle of a $3bn share buyback and Mr Buffett holds more than 27 million of the company's shares, which closed on Monday at $74.72."
- Hertz has been forced to adopt a "poison pill" to prevent a single investor group from gaining outsized control of the company - the result, the company said, of "unusual and substantial" trading activity, Marketwatch's John Kell reported. "Hertz, which declined to comment on specific discussions with shareholders, said it has had conversations with "a number of shareholders and welcomes their input towards the goal of enhancing shareholder value," he wrote. Shares jumped 3% in after-hours trading on the news. Hertz is up 59% on the year, while rival Avis is up 99%, thanks to a recovery in the travel sector.
- Three big data points today to close out the year: At 9 am we get the S&P/Case-Shiller House Price Index for October, though it will technically cover the three preceding months. Consensus is for a year-over-year gain of 13.7%.
- At 9:45 am, the Chicago Purchasing Managers Index for December prints. Consensus is for a decrease to 61.3, from 63.0 prior. Finally at 10:00 am we get the Conference Board's consumer confidence index for December, which is expected to climb to 76.8 from 70.4.
- Netflix announced a cheaper streaming plan just for new customers, according to Adweek. They'll be able to watch standard definition movies and TV shows, on one device at one time, for $6.99. The service may be extended to existing customers if it's successful.
- The FAA has chosen six sites to test the safety of commercial and private drone use in the U.S, including Rutgers University, an Air Force base near Rome, N.Y., and Virginia Tech, the New York Times reported. The agency projects the first civilian drone licenses to be issued in 2015.
- China already appears likely to transgress the interim agreement just reached with Iran to keep crude imports from the country at "current average amounts," Reuters reports, as a state trader has begun negotiating a new light crude contract. However, we previously reported that some analysts believed such an outcome was actually baked into the agreement, since the definition of "current average amounts" was stretched to the past 12 months, which saw amounts greater than actual current levels.