10 Things You Need To Know Before The Opening Bell
ECB. At 7:45 a.m., European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi will announce the body's latest policy stance. Most believe there will be easing of one form or another given strong evidence of disinflation. For what it's worth, retail sales in the euro zone registered their strongest annual growth in seven years in April.
Bank of England. Upstaging the ECB is the BOE, which announced it left rates and QE unchanged.
Jobless claims. Come in at 8:30 a.m. Consensus is for 310,000, up a bit from last week's 300,000.
Amazon Smartphone. It's coming later this month, Bloomberg's Adam Satariano reports. "Amazon tweeted yesterday that it was holding an event in Seattle on June 18 hosted by Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos for a product unveiling. The post included a picture of a black, thin device with Amazon's name in silver emblazoned on it. Mary Osako, a spokeswoman for Amazon, didn't return a call for comment."
UK Home Prices. This continues to be the hottest market in the world. From The Wall Street Journal: "Mortgage lender Halifax said the value of homes purchased by its own mortgage customers hit £184,464 ($308,922) in May, the highest price since April 2008. That marks a 3.9% increase from April-the largest monthly gain since October 2002-and an annual gain of 8.7%."
IMF Cuts China Growth Forecast. The body cut its outlook to 7% from 7.3% on the property market slowdown and fears about credit build-up, the FT says.
Sprint Is Close To Buying T-Mobile.The Wall Street Journal says T-Mobile would cost approximately $32 billion. The companies are the third and fourth-largest mobile providers in the country.
Too Quiet. Volume hit 5.7 billion daily transactions last month, according to Credit Suisse, a low not seen since 2007.
RadioShack's Not Dead Yet. Theelectronic chain announced it would start offering start-ups making new products "special retail terms" and promotions, in a bid to reignite its own fortunes, the FT says.
Markets. U.S. futures are flat. European stocks are mixed.