What you need to know before the US open
US stocks are expected flat today, after retail sales disappointed and investors found little else to prompt a push resulting in anything like the sharp rally seen yesterday.
Retail sales improved just 0.1 per cent in April, below the 0.4 per cent forecast and the 1.5 per cent jump seen in March.
Meanwhile, imports and exports also fell off last month, decreasing 0.4 per cent and 0.1 per cent respectively.
Corporate news
Valeant Pharmaceuticals has said it'll improve its offer Allergan, the company it’s trying to take over, after Allergan rejected its $47bn offer, saying proposed cost cuts were too steep. In a public letter, Valeant said Allergan has tried to discredit it, and that it'll offer a fair price.
Coca-Cola has announced that it’s going to increase its stake in Keurig Green Mountain, the coffee firm it first bought into back in February.
And the EU’s Court of Justice has ruled that Google must respect people’s ‘right to be forgotten’, meaning it and other internet companies can be made to remove irrelevant or excessive personal information from search engine results.
Data in focus
• 3.00pm: US March business inventories