10 Things You Need To Know Before The Opening Bell

Mamta Badkar

Ian Gavan/Getty Images

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

• Asian markets were mostly higher in overnight trading but the Shanghai Composite ended down 0.30 percent falling to its lowest in over three-years. Europe is mixed and U.S. futures are modestly higher.

• Euro area unemployment was at a record 11.2 percent in June. The region's debt crisis and economic slowdown pushed companies to layoff workers.

• The Federal Open Market Committee begins its meeting today and all eyes are on whether the Fed will announce QE3. Consensus is that for the moment, the Fed will only extend low rates to 2015. 

• In earnings news, Pfizer reported adjusted earnings of $0.62 per share, beating expectations of $0.54. Meanwhile, UBS announced a 58 percent decline in second quarter  profits and the bank said Nasdaq's mishandling  of the Facebook IPO cost it $356 million. 

• The Reserve Bank of India maintained its key rate at 8 percent and cut its growth outlook for the year ending March to 6.5 percent, from 7.3 percent. The central bank has previously said that keeping inflation in check is a priority.

• Personal income and outlays for June will be out 8:30 a.m. ET, followed by S&P Case-Shiller for May at 9 a.m. ET. Consensus is for a 0.4 percent month-over-month increase in personal income and a 0.5 percent increase in the Case-Shiller 20-city home price index.

• BP reported a net loss of $1.39 billion in the second quarter, against a net profit of $5.72 billion a year ago. Profits declined after the company wrote down its U.S. assets.

• Some poor data out of Germany. The number of people out of work climbed by 7,000 to 2.89 million in July, with unemployment rising for the fourth consecutive month. Meanwhile retail sales unexpectedly declined for a third straight month. 

• Chicago PMI for July will be released at 9:45 am ET, followed by consumer confidence for July at 10 a.m. ET. Consensus is for the business barometer index to decline to 52.5, and for consumer confidence to decline to 61.5. 

• India's northern and eastern regions were impacted by power failure for a second straight day which left 600 million without electricity. Yesterday's power outage impacted 370 million people.