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Here is what you need to know. Oil is giving back some of Wednesday's OPEC-induced gains. West Texas Intermediate crude oil is down 0.4% at $46.86 a barrel after rallying by more than 5% on the news that OPEC members had reached a deal to limit production at the November meeting. Brent crude oil, the international benchmark, is also weaker, off 0.7% at $48.33 a barrel. German unemployment ticked up. The number of unemployed people in Germany rose by 1,000 in September versus economist expectations that the number would decrease by 5,000. Seasonally adjusted, the unemployment rate held at 6.1%. The euro is unchanged at 1.1218 against the dollar. Janet Yellen forgot a key measure of the job market. In her testimony before the House Financial Services Committee, Fed Chair Janet Yellen was unable to remember the labor-force participation rate, the percentage of people with a job or actively seeking a job as part of the total population, when asked by Rep. Frank Guinta. She was able to shuffle through her papers and find the number. California dealt a huge blow to Wells Fargo. On Wednesday, the state of California said it would no longer use Wells Fargo as an underwriter for the issuance of state municipal bonds; it also said the bank would not be involved in the state's banking or investment activities for the next 12 months. The EU is starting an antitrust investigation into the LSE-Deutsche Boerse deal. Reuters says the investigation, which is expected to last four months, will determine whether the proposed $28 billion merger harms competition in financial markets. Commerzbank is making big cuts. The German bank says it will cut almost 10,000 jobs, or more than 20% of its labor force, and eliminate its dividend temporarily as part of a 1.1 billion euro ($1.2 billion) restructuring plan, Reuters reports. BlackBerry won't make phones anymore. The company will now rely on external companies for any future hardware products. CEO John Chen said in a statement that the move "allows us to reduce capital requirements and enhance return on invested capital." Stock markets around the world are higher. Japan's Nikkei (+1.4%) led the overnight gain, and France's CAC (+1.1%) paces the advance in Europe. S&P 500 futures are down 0.50 points at 2,162.75. Earnings reporting picks up a bit. PepsiCo and ConAgra Foods report ahead of the opening bell, and Costco releases its quarterly results after markets close. US economic data is heavy. Gross domestic product, wholesale inventories, and initial jobless claims will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET before pending home sales crosses the wires at 10 a.m. ET. The US 10-year yield is up 2 basis points at 1.59%. |
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