10 things you need to know before the opening bell
Dec 6, 2018, 17:31 IST
Advertisement
Here is what you need to know.
- Canada arrested Huawei's CFO, and the US is seeking to extradite her. Meng Wanzhou, CFO of the Chinese technology company Huawei, was arrested on suspicion of violating the US's trade sanctions on Iran, adding a new chapter to the US-China trade war.
- Stocks are getting rocked. Hong Kong's Hang Seng (-2.47%) led the losses in Asia and Britain's FTSE (-2.6%) trails in Europe. The S&P 500 is set to open down 1.66% near 2,655.
- Bonds are rallying. Buying has pushed the 10-year yield down more than 2 basis points to 2.89%, but the yield curve is slightly steeper with the 2-10-yr spread up to 13 basis points.
- Oil craters after Saudi Arabia proposes a smaller than expected production cut. West Texas Intermediate crude oil was down more than 3% at $51.25 a barrel after Saudi energy minister Khalid Al-Falih said cutting production by about 1 million barrels a day should be "adequate," Bloomberg reports. OPEC has been considering cuts of up to 1.5 million bpd.
- There's a 'deus ex machina' that could save the markets from disaster. The strong US dollar needs to weaken in order to save the stock market, and there are four ways that can happen, according to Vincent Deluard, macro strategist at FCStone.
- There are more details in Tesla's bid for a Gigafactory in China. The state-owned Shanghai Construction Group is doing the bidding, and at least one contractor has started buying materials for the plant's foundations, Reuters reports, citing sources and documents it reviewed.
- Clues suggest China was behind the huge Marriott hack. Tools, techniques, and procedures that have previously been used in attacks by Chinese hackers were discovered by investigators looking into the breach of up to 500 million customers in Marriott's Starwood reservation system, Reuters reports, citing three people familiar with the matter.
- There's a simple reason people aren't buying iPhones like they used to. Apple "continues to try to push toward these higher-price devices, and we think that is continuing to cause a slowdown in the replacement cycle," Angelo Zino, senior equity analyst at CFRA, told Business Insider, adding he doesn't see that as a broader warning for the state of the US consumer.
- Earnings report picks up a bit. Kroger reports ahead of the opening bell while American Outdoor Brands, Broadcom, Lululemon, and Ulta Beauty are set to release their quarterly results after markets close.
- US economic data is heavy. ADP Employment Change will cross the wires at 8:15 a.m. ET and initial claims is released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Then at 9:45 a.m. ET, Markit services PMI will be released before data concludes at 10 a.m. ET with ISM non-manufacturing, factory orders, and durable goods orders.