10 Things You Need To Know Before The Opening Bell

Eric Platt

 Sep. 13, 2012

Jason Kempin/Getty Images

Good morning. Here's what you need to know.

• Asian markets were mixed in overnight trade, with Japan's Nikkei up 0.4 percent. Shares in Europe are moderately lower while U.S. futures point to a negative open.

• The Federal Reserve will release its September monetary policy decision at 12:30 p.m. today. Economists are bracing for the FOMC to leave rates unchanged, but to extend the timeline on keeping rates subdued to 2015. Many economists also expect the Fed to announce a new round of quantitative easing in its effort to lower interest rates.

• China's Vice President Xi Jingping finally surfaced after he missed a number of meetings and had gone missing. State media said Xi "expressed condolences on the death of old party comrade Huang Rong," who passed earlier in September. Xi is expected to be the next president of China. 

• The Swiss National Bank said it would maintain its floor against the euro. The central bank said it would intervene if the country's currency strengthened beyond 1.20 francs per euro.

• Italy sold some €6.5 billion worth of medium- and long-term debt at an auction this morning to strong demand. Yields on bonds maturing in 2015 fell to 2.75 percent from 4.65 percent a month earlier.

• The Dutch elected two pro-euro parties to lead the government during general elections in the country. Prime Minister Mark Rutte is the first euro area leader to be re-elected since the euro crisis began.

• Ford is expected to shakeup its European operations which have lagged North American activity as the region struggles with growth. Ford executives have debated cutting capacity in the area, including closing a plant in Belgium, Mike Ramsey and Neal Boudette of the WSJ report.

• AT&T reached a tentative labor agreement with the Communications Workers of America who represent some 40,000 employees. The four-year deal calls for modest increases to employee health care premiums.

• U.S. weekly initial jobless claims will be released at 8:30 a.m. Economists forecast first time unemployment claims increased to 370,000 during the week ending September 8, up from 365,000 a week earlier.

• Hundreds of protesters stormed the U.S. Embassy in Yemen, following similar attacks in Libya and Egypt. There are also reports that protestors in Iran targeted the Swiss Embassy, which handles U.S. interests in the country.