Before the bell: What you need to know before the US market open
Germany has been forced to deny reports of a possible Deutsche Bank bailout after investors abandoned the troubled bank and megabrew is on after investors voted to approve the deal.
Here's what you need to know before the US market open at 2:30pm London time.
US futures are pointing up ahead of the open, though not by a lot. The S&P is up by 0.02 per cent, the Nasdaq is 0.10 per cent higher, while the Dow is up by 0.08 per cent. The US 10-year yield is up two basis points at 1.58 per cent.
European markets are broadly rising ahead of the US open, following a mixed session in China and a slump in Japan.
Don't bank on Deutsche
The German government has denied it is considering injecting billions of euros into beleaguered Deutsche Bank, following reports from a German newspaper it was preparing an emergency rescue package.
Meanwhile the beleaguered lender is set to welcome nearly £1bn of much needed capital after agreeing to sell Abbey Life to specialist life insurer Phoenix.
"This transaction will also strengthen Deutsche Bank’s capital position. We continue to build a simpler and better Deutsche Bank," said chief executive John Cryan.
Megabrew set for October top off
SABMiller investors have given the green light to Anheuser-Busch InBev’s £79bn Megabrew merger.
Minority shareholders for the FTSE 100 drinks giant voted overwhelmingly in favour of the deal, one of the largest in corporate history, with more than 95.5 per cent of votes cast in support.
All shareholder hurdles for the mega-merger have now been passed, as stock holders at Anheuser-Busch InBev also backed the proposed tie-up at a meeting in Brussels today, paving the way for the deal to complete in October.
Stocks to watch
Oil majors will be in the spotlight as Opec oil chiefs meeting in Algeria.
Oil prices have sunk earlier this week as investors scale back their expectations of a deal to curb output between some of the world's biggest suppliers.
Rival producers Iran and Saudi Arabia have both poured water on the possibility of a deal being reached to limit oil exports, which have remained at record highs all year. Both countries have said the meetings this week are purely "consultative" and will result in no formal agreements.
Two leading Wells Fargo executives have agreed to forfeit a total of $60m (£46m) of their own remuneration following an investigation into the US bank's sales practices.
Chief executive John Stumpf will forego shares worth $41m and Carrie Tolstedt, the former head of the retail division, will miss out on $19m of shares after the company board ordered an investigation.
Companies reporting today
Former smartphone king Blackberry has posted a 31.8 per cent fall in second quarter revenue and a net loss of $372m. It also announced it would no longer be making its own hardware, but would outsource it to third party companies.
It's instead going to focus on software and services.
In economic news
Durable goods orders are out ahead of the open, while the latest Department of Energy crude oil inventories are out just after.