10 things you need to know before the opening bell
GE is merging its oil and gas business with Baker Hughes. General Electric will own 62.5% of the combined company, and Baker Hughes shareholders will receive a one-time special dividend of $17.50 per share when the deal closes, Reuters reports.
Tesla unveiled a solar roof. CEO Elon Musk unveiled the new product at Universal Studios in Los Angeles on Friday night, calling it a "fundamental part of achieving differentiated product strategy."
Sony slashed its profit outlook. The electronics giant expects an operating profits of 270 billion yen ($2.6 billion) for the year ending in March after previously forecasting a 300 billion yen profit, Reuters reports. The reduced outlook comes as a result of impairment losses related to the sale of its battery business
One of the hedge fund industry's biggest names is shrinking. Brevan Howard has received redemption requests for about $2 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. The redemptions will take assets under management down to approximately $11.7 billion, or nearly half the size of a year ago.
Charges are being dropped against South Africa's finance minister. The National Prosecuting Authority says it is dropping fraud charges against finance minister Pravin Gordhan because he "did not have the requisite intention to act unlawfully," Bloomberg reports. The South African rand is stronger by 1.4% at 13.6300 per dollar.
Eurozone inflation is up. Consumer prices in the eurozone rose 0.5% year-over-year in October, up from the 0.4% YoY reading in September. The euro is lower by 0.4% at 1.0958.
Oil is clawing back its early losses. West Texas Intermediate crude oil opened up to a loss of 1.0% after non-OPEC members failed to commit to a production cut. However, the energy component has trimmed its early losses and now trades down at 0.5% at $48.38 per barrel.
Stock markets around the world are lower. China's Shanghai Composite (-0.1%) slipped in Asia and France's CAC (-0.7%) lags in Europe. The S&P 500 is looking to open high by about 0.1% near 2,128.
Earnings reporting remains heavy. Cardinal Health, Loews, and Lumber Liquidators are among the names reporting ahead of the opening bell while General Growth Properties and Tenent Healthcare highlight the companies releasing their quarterly results after markets close.
US economic data flows. Personal income and spending will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET before Chicago PMI and Dallas Fed manufacturing cross the wires at 9:45 a.m. ET and 10:30 a.m. ET, respectively. The US 10-year yield is little changed at 1.85%.