10 Things You Need To Know Before The Opening Bell

Eric Platt

 Jul. 18, 2012

www.aljazeera.com

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

• Asian markets sold off moderately in overnight trade, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng down 1.1 percent. European shares are higher while U.S. futures point to a negative open.

• Chinese property prices were flat in June, ending eight consecutive months of decline. Data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed increases of 0.3 percent and 0.2 percent for Beijing and Shanghai, respectively. 

• The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee voted 7-2 to increase stimulus and could consider lowering interest rates, minutes of the July 4 and July 5 meeting released today show.

• U.K. unemployment eased to 8.1 percent in the quarter through May, a nine month low. The number of jobless Britons declined by 65,000 to 2.58 million.

• Germany sold two-year notes at a negative yield for the first time. The government sold €4.173 billion at an average yield of -0.06 percent.

• Intel cut its full year revenue forecast as weakness in mature consumer markets persists. The chip maker says it now expects full year revenue to grow between three and five percent, or as much as $1 billion below earlier forecasts. 

• Yahoo beat earnings expectations yesterday, a day after the company named Marissa Mayer as its new CEO. Yahoo said net income was down slightly from the year ago period to $226 million, or $0.27 a share. 

• U.S. economic announcements kick off at 8:30 a.m. with housing starts and building permits. Starts are expected to accelerate 5.2 percent to a pace of 745,000 in June, while building permits slow 2.4 percent to a 765,000 pace. The Fed's Beige Book is out at 2 p.m.

• Bank of America reported better-than-expected earnings this morning at $0.19 a share. Revenue missed expectations however. Still on tap today: American Express and IBM. Consensus is for American Express and IBM to report earnings of $1.09 and $3.43 a share. 

• Syria's defense minister, Daoud Rajha, was killed in an explosion, the country's state television says. The bomb detonated during a meeting of top officials in Damascus.