10 things you need to know before the opening bell
China cut its reserve requirement ratio. China's central bank, the People's Bank of China, lowered its reserve requirement ratio by 50 basis points to 17% for the country's biggest lenders. The announcement comes as the PBOC looks for ways to ignite the slowing Chinese economy. China's most recent reserve-requirement-ratio cut came in October.
China expects to lay off 1.8 million coal and steel workers. The slowdown in China is expected to cost the jobs of 1.8 million workers in the coal and steel industries, according to Yin Weimin, minister of human resources and social security. Reuters reports that no timetable for the layoffs was given.
There's deflation in Europe. Prices in the eurozone fell 0.2% in February, making for their biggest drop since March. The core reading, which strips out the more volatile food and energy, printed 0.8%, down from 1% in January. Monday's data has raised expectations the European Central Bank will lower its deposit rate even further into negative territory at its coming meeting. The euro is weaker by 0.4% at 1.0887.
German yields is falling. The deflationary reading in Europe has pushed German yields into negative territory out to nine years. The benchmark 10-year yield is down 4 basis points at 10.6 basis points, its lowest level since April. A drop below 7.5 basis points would make for an all-time low.
Berkshire Hathaway profit hit a record. The Warren Buffett-led conglomerate announced earnings of $3,333 a share, easily beating the $2,529 that was expected by the Bloomberg consensus. Profits surged 32% to a record $5.48 billion. In his letter to shareholders, Buffett noted that BNSF railroad "dramatically improved" after a bad 2014. Additionally, Buffett said the company bought more of its big four investments (American Express, Coca-Cola, IBM, and Wells Fargo) over the past year.
Valeant's CEO is coming back from medical leave. Mike Pearson is back at the helm of Valeant Pharmaceuticals after going on medical leave in December. Pearson temporarily stepped down as CEO as he suffered from pneumonia and complications related to the illness. Valeant announced that it would be separating the roles of CEO and chairman and that Robert Ingram had been appointed chairman of the board.
Nintendo gave a downbeat forecast. The video-game maker Nintendo lowered its net-income forecast by 51% to 17 billion yen ($150 million) for its fiscal year ending in March. The company expects the recent strength of the yen to reduce operating income by 20 billion yen and now projects that number to fall to 33 billion yen, down from 50 billion yen. Nintendo's revenue forecast of 500 billion yen is the lowest in at least 15 years, according to Bloomberg.
Stock markets everywhere are lower. China's Shanghai Composite (-2.9%) lagged in Asia, and Germany's DAX (-1.1%) paces the decline in Europe. S&P 500 futures are lower by 3.50 points at 1,939.50.
Earnings reporting remains heavy. AMC Entertainment, Lumber Liquidators, and Valeant Pharmaceuticals are among the names reporting before the opening bell. Crocs, Hertz Global, and MBIA are among the names releasing their quarterly results after markets close.
US economic data flows. Chicago PMI is due out at 9:45 a.m. ET, and pending home sales will cross the wires at 10 a.m. ET. The US 10-year yield is down 2 bps at 1.74%.