10 Things You Need To Know Before The Opening Bell

Mamta Badkar

Nov. 1, 2012

Robert Johnson

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

• Asian markets were mixed in overnight trading with the Shanghai Composite up 1.72 percent on a positive PMI report and speculation that some local governments would ease curbs on property purchases. Europe is modestly higher and U.S. futures are modestly lower.

• China's official manufacturing PMI rose to 50.2 in October, from 49.8 the previous month. Chinese HSBC PMI climbed to an 8-month high of 49.5 in October, but stayed below the contractionary reading of 50.

• The death toll from Hurricane Sandy has climbed to 74 according to latest reports. Over 5 million homes continue to be out of power across the east coast. In New York city, partial subway service has been resumed, and governor Andrew Cuomo has declared a transportation emergency.

• The ADP employment report is out at 8:15 a.m. ET, and initial jobless claims are out at 8:30 a.m. ET. Consensus is for ADP employment to fall to 155,000, and initial claims are expected to stay flat at 369K. Remember, ADP has switched to Moody's to revamp data. 

• In Europe, Irish PMI continued to rise climbing to 52.1 in October. But UK  manufacturing PMI fell to 47.5, with overall operating conditions declining for a sixth-straight month, and Greek PMI fell to 41. 

• Lloyds, which is partially owned by British taxpayers, reported a Q3 net loss of £351 million. It's net loss narrowed even though it had to set aside £1 billion to settle claims for mis-selling insurance.

• South Korean exports climbed 1.2 percent in October, after declining a revised 2 percent the previous month. Societe Generale's Klaus Baader wrote that this showed "the end of the Asian and global trade slowdown in the wake of China’s economy bottoming out".

• In earnings news, Linkedin is expected to report earnings of $0.11 per share, and Starbucks is expected to report earnings of $0.45 per share.

• The ISM manufacturing index and construction spending for October will be out at 10 a.m. ET. Economists polled by Bloomberg expect ISM manufacturing to stay flat at 51.5 and for consumer confidence to rise to 74.

• U.S. regulators have threatened to fine Barclays about $470 million to settle allegations that it manipulated California electricity markets. The bank has 30 days to make a case for why it shouldn't be penalized.