Before the bell: What you need to know before the US market open
Oil prices are falling and Australian central bankers are getting jumpy. Here's what you need to know before the US markets open.
Markets look set for a sharply lower open, following their European counterparts southwards. Many seem to have taken the old adage of "sell in May and go away," to heart it seems.
S&P futures are down by 0.67 per cent, while the Nasdaq and the Dow are both down 0.66 per cent.
Oil fell off a cliff this morning, losing around two per cent but has since pulled back somewhat and is currently trading at $44.40 per barrel of US light sweet.
In stocks:
Shares of drugmaker Pfizer were up almost three per cent in pre-market trading after the company reported a rise in quarterly revenue that beat expectations.
Cosmetics maker Estee Lauder will also be of interest to investors after its shares rose 1.9 per cent to $98.99 as demand for M.A.C. and Smashbox makeup brands have its quarterly revenue a boost.
General Motors and Ford will be in focus as they post US car sales data later.
In Europe banks and financials are suffering after UBS, Commerzbank, and Aberdeen Asset Management reported worse-than-expected quarterly results. Shares in Aberdeen were earlier down almost 10 per cent while UBS were down by eight per cent and Commerzbank down by six per cent.
HSBC announced a decline in profits but performed better than was expected.
There's a flood of corporate earnings out today with most of them already released:
Already this morning we've heard from Build-A-Bear Workshop; New York Times; Pfizer; Sprint; Starwood Hotels; Anadarko Petroleum; Halliburton, and Hyatt Hotels.
And after the close of play later we get updates from Etsy; Papa John's International; Western Union, and CBS.
Economic news:
The Reserve Bank of Australia gave markets in Asia a surprise boost after it announced it was lowering its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to a record low of 1.75 per cent last night.
The US 10-year bond yield is down 7 basis points at 1.80 per cent.