Anything For You All: 10 things you need to know before the opening bell

Jumat, 14 Februari 2020

10 things you need to know before the opening bell


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10 Things Before the Opening Bell

Here's what you need to know before the markets open.

1. United just extended China and Hong Kong cancellations as the coronavirus continues to wreak havoc on airlines and the entire travel industry. Airlines globally — including American, Delta, and United — have cut service to mainland China and Hong Kong as the flu-like illness continues to spread.

2. Warren Buffett loves using Valentine's Day to explain why See's Candies is his 'dream business.' The billionaire investor and Berkshire Hathaway CEO said customers associate the boxes of chocolate with romance, allowing See's to raise its prices without losing business.

3. 'Almost a mass psychosis': Tesla's 250% stock rally makes no sense, Bob Lutz says. "Nobody can explain it, it's so far beyond any fundamental return that any shareholder could ever expect," the auto-industry veteran told the BBC Business Daily podcast this week.

4. Eurozone growth slows as expected in fourth quarter, but employment beats consensus. GDP rose by 0.9% year-on-year, while employment rose 1%.

5. Mark Zuckerberg accepts Facebook may pay more tax outside US. "We accept that [the reforms] may mean we have to pay more tax and pay it in different places under a new framework," the social network's CEO is expected to say in a speech on Saturday, Politico reported.

6. Oil is set for a weekly gain on supply cut optimism. Crude oil prices are poised to record their first weekly gain in six weeks on expectations that major producers will make deeper output cuts to offset slowing demand in China.

7. Nissan shares tumble to decade low after earnings rout. Shares in the Japanese automaker slid almost 10% after it cut its annual profit forecast and ruled out a second-half dividend.

8. Stocks are mixed. In Europe, Germany's DAX is up 0.2% while Britain's FTSE 100 and the Euro Stoxx 50 are marginally down. In Asia, China's Shanghai Composite and Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.3% to 0.4%, while Japan's Nikkei slumped 0.6%. US stocks are set to open higher with futures underlying the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, and Nasdaq up 0.1% to 0.3%.

9. The earnings parade marches on. Canopy Growth and Newell Brands are the highlights.

10. Key data is coming out. Look out for retail sales figures and export and import prices.