10 things you need to know before the opening bell

Posted On 4:59 AM // Leave a Comment


Learn More about BI Prime	View online

10 Things Before the Opening Bell

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

1. The coronavirus pandemic is messing with how economic data is produced, and making it hard to work out how badly it's hitting the global economy, the IMF says. COVID-19 is skewing economic data, meaning policymakers will struggle to correctly assess the damage done by the pandemic and type of recovery needed, the International Monetary Fund said this week.

2. Global stocks fall as investors brace for Trump to hit China with a 'bazooka'. Global stocks fell on Friday ahead of expected developments in US-China strains as President Trump promised "interesting" action on the world's second-largest economy. Stocks in Asia were mixed, with China's Shanghai up 0.2%, the Hang Seng was down 0.74% and the Nikkei 225 was up 0.18%. Stocks in Europe and US futures were all down.

3. Japan backs nearly a third of $6.6 billion loans to Nissan. The Japanese government has guaranteed almost a third of the 713 billion yen ($6.65 billion) in loans Nissan has secured from its main lenders to weather the COVID-19 pandemic, according to three people with knowledge of the plans.

4. Ukraine expects $5 billion IMF loan approval on June 5, its prime minister says. Ukraine expects the International Monetary Fund to approve a $5 billion loan package at a board meeting and the first tranche of $1.9 billion to be disbursed the following day, Prime Minister Denys Shmygal told Reuters on Friday.

5. China's Didi Chuxing raises over $500 million for autonomous driving unit. Transportation giant Didi Chuxing said on Friday it had completed a fundraising round of over $500 million for its autonomous driving subsidiary.

6. Twitter's ex-CEO stepped up the Silicon Valley beef and attacked Facebook for being a hotbed of anti-vaxxer Bill Gates conspiracy theories. There's an ongoing spat between Twitter and Facebook right now over whether social media platforms should fact-check politicians, after Twitter slapped warning and fact-check labels on President Trump's recent tweets.

7. Russia's Rosneft finds extended oil cuts painful, Reuters reports. Rosneft does not have enough crude oil to ship to buyers with which it has long-term supply deals, making it hard for the Russian company to continue with record oil cuts beyond June, four sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday.

8. The UK made just 197 cars last month, a drop of 99.7% as coronavirus tanks factory output. The UK produced only 197 cars this April, fall of almost 100% since April last year, in the latest sign that coronavirus has ravaged various manufacturing industries.

9. First-quarter earnings coming in. Yamaha Motor and Pure Gold Price Club are due.

10. Economic data releases today. US consumer price data, the Baker Hughes oil rig count, and Canadian GDP are highlights Friday.