10 Things You Need To Know Before The Opening Bell

Mamta Badkar

 Apr. 17, 2012,

Brendon Thorne/Getty Images

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

• Asian markets were mostly lower in overnight trading but the Bombay Stock Exchange surged 1.21 percent after India's central bank cut interest rates. Europe is rallying and U.S. futures are moderately higher.
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• The Spanish Treasury auctioned €3.18 billion of 12-month and 18-month Treasury bills. Yields of the 12-month bill rose to 2.623 percent and the 18-month bill saw yields surge to 3.110 percent. 

• German investor confidence climbed to 23.4 in April, from 22.3 in March, rising to a two-year high. The data suggests that Germany can avoid a recession in the midst of Europe's debt crisis. Investor confidence climbed for a fifth consecutive month.

• In earnings news, Goldman Sachs announced Q1 EPS of $3.92 per share, on revenue of $9.95 billion. Goldman also raised quarterly dividend to $0.46. Four DOW components are expected to announce earnings today. Coca-Cola reported Q1 adjusted earnings of $0.89 per share beating expectations. Yahoo is expected to report earnings of $0.18 per share, after the bell. 

• Christine Lagarde said the IMF needs an additional $400 billion to build its firewall. And Japan has said it will contribute $60 billion in loans becoming the first non-European country to help boost funding to fight Europe's debt crisis.

• March housing starts came in at 654K, missing expectations of a rise to 700K. Industrial production for March at 9:15 a.m. ET. Consensus is for a 0.3 percent month-over-month increase in manufacturing and production.

• In industry news, Rio Tinto, the third biggest mining company in the world reported a 9 percent increase in Q1 iron ore production, which missed expectations. Meanwhile Cheniere Energy won federal approval to build the largest U.S. natural-gas export terminal.

• Some data out of China, its foreign direct investment fell to $29.5 billion in the first quarter, down 2.8 percent year-over-year. March inflows were down 5.6 percent. Chinese holdings of U.S. treasuries climbed for a second straight month, rising 1.1 percent to $1.18 trillion.

• The Reserve Bank of India cut its repurchase rate by 50 basis points to 8 percent from 8.5 percent. The central bank had said it was concerned of risks to growth but higher than expected inflation in March could limit further cuts. This is the first interest rate cut in three years. 

• Consumer prices in the UK rose 3.5 percent year-over-year in March. Inflation was driven by higher prices for food, clothing, and recreation and culture.