10 Things You Need To Know Before The Opening Bell

Eric Platt

Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images

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

• Markets rallied higher in overnight trading in Asia, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng up 1.4 percent. Shares in Europe are slightly in the green and U.S. futures point to a higher open.

• Japanese unemployment increased 10 basis points to 4.6 percent in April, above estimates for no change. Separately, the government said personal consumption increased 3.2 percent during the month to ¥301,948. 

• Spanish retail sales fell 9.8 percent year-on-year in April, the largest collapse since data has been collected. 

• Italy sold €3.5 billion in two-year notes, at the high end of plans, at a yield of 4.037 percent. That is up from a yield of 3.36 percent one month ago. 

• A 5.8 magnitude earthquake hit northern Italy this morning, killing at least six people. This is the second earthquake in a little more than a week that has struck the region.

• Russia well sell a 7.6 percent stake in eastern Europe's largest lender, OAO Sberbank, this year, Bloomberg's Scott Rose and Denis Maternovsky report.

• Beleaguered law firm Dewey & LeBoeuf filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday, ending what has been a drawn out fight for survival. Many of the firm's top employees have already left the firm, after reports surfaced that Dewey had become illiquid and could default on its debt.

• JP Morgan sold more than $25 billion worth of profitable securities to offset the trading loss within its Chief Investment Office, Reuters' David Henry reports. The bank gained some $1 billion on the sale.

• TNK-BP Chief Executive Mikhail Fridman unexpectedly resigned on Monday, saying corporate governance had "become untenable." The move highlights ongoing tensions between BP and Russian partners at the joint venture; however BP did not give his departure much weight.

• U.S. economic announcements kick off at at 9:00 a.m. with the Case-Shiller March reading.  Expectations are the main index to show a 2.7 percent decline from a year earlier. The Dallas Fed Manufacturing report hits at 10:30 a.m., with consensus for manufacturing in the Southwest to improve to 0 in May.