What you need to know before the US open
Things have calmed down a bit today. European bourses have steadied, as Washington and Moscow meet for talks over Ukraine, and it looks like the S&P 500 will open flat to slightly lower, following yesterday's record high.
UK Prime Minister David Cameron has said Russia will face “costs and consequences” for its military action against Ukraine. Markets await more information on possible sanctions which could be imposed on Russia.
Investors have some data to digest today, too:
Numbers from private payroll provider ADP have shown the number of news jobs created in February missed expectations. 139,000 were created last month; forecasts were for 155,000 to be added.
And Markit’s services purchasing managers’ index for February has just come in at 53.3, falling from 56.7 in January.
Corporate news
Whisky maker Jack Daniel’s has lifted its profit forecast, saying it expects earnings between $2.95 per share and $3.05 per share for the current financial year.
Manufacturer Honeywell has set out sales and profit margin targets for the next five years. It’s expecting sales to grow by between $7bn and $12bn to $12bn to $46bn to $51bn by 2018.
In Asia
The Chinese government’s targeted GDP growth of 7.5 per cent and 3.5 per cent inflation, in line with expectations.
Data in focus
- 3.00pm: Feb ISM non-manufacturing PMI