Before the bell: What you need to know before the US market open
China is trying to smooth US trade ties after threats of a tax hike on imports from Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and the European Commission could decide today whether to allow ABInBev to buy SABMiller.
Here's what you need to know before the open at 2:30pm London time.
In the pre-market futures are pointing up. The S&P is up by 0.37 per cent. The Nasdaq is up by 0.4 per cent, while the Dow is up by 0.3 per cent.
So sar in Europe stocks are doing well, the FTSE was up by 0.73 per cent in late morning trade, while the German DAX was trading one per cent higher.
Markets in China ended the day on a positive note earlier, though in Japan the Nikkei sank.
The EU competition commission could today make a decision on wether to allow ABInBev to buy SABMiller for £68bn – a deal that has come to be known as Mega-brew. The two companies have already announced they will sell off several brands to satisfy antitrust regulators but will it have been enough?
Meanwhile, China’s deputy finance minister Zhu Guangyao has said the country will seek “institutional arrangements” with the US over trade and investment at a summit next month.
The announcement comes after de-facto Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump threatened to restrict Chinese imports with a 45 per cent tariff if he is elected in November.
Stocks to watch
Coca-Cola's various holdings around the world will be closely watched today after the Venezuelan bottler of Coca-Cola has been forced to halt production due to a lack of sugar in the recession hit socialist country.
Shares in car-maker Toyota fell by 1.4 per cent in Japan after it said it will have to recall a further 1.6m vehicles in the US due to airbag safety issues.
Facebook is still fighting to prove its impartiality after becoming embroiled in a row over its political bias. The social media giant is set to change its internal Trending Topics guidelines and will no longer rely on a list of external websites when promoting certain stories.
Companies reporting today
Before the bell we'll hear form retailer Best Buy and mechanic and car parts retailer AutoZone.
After the close the enterprise side of the newly separated Hewlett Packard will reveal how it's doing following a split from the rest of the business in November last year.
Economic data out today
The US Census Bureau will issue its new home sales data at 3pm London time.