10 Things You Need To Know Before The Opening Bell

Mamta Badkar

 Nov. 20, 2012

AP Photo/Chris Pizzello

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

• Asian markets were mostly lower in overnight trading with the Shanghai Composite down 0.4 percent hitting a new 2012 low. Europe is mixed and U.S. futures are flat. This is following a huge gain around the world on Monday.

• Foreign direct investment in China fell 0.2 percent in October from a year ago to $8.31 billion. FDI inflows fell 3.5 percent in the first 10 months. 

• U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is headed to Jerusalem, Ramallah, and Cairo to meet with leaders in the region and to "support de-escalation" of the violence, according to Ben Rhodes, deputy national security adviser. The death toll in the Gaza Strip has reached 116 according to latest reports and Israel has postponed the decision on a land invasion.

• Moody's downgraded France's credit rating from Aaa to Aa1 and maintained its negative outlook.

• The Bank of Japan refrained from monetary easing, maintaining the asset fund at 66 trillion yen ($812 billion). BoJ governor Masaaki Shirakawa pushed back against pressure for unlimited easing saying he wants to "respect the BoJ's independence". 

• Housing starts for October will be out at 8:30 a.m. ET. Consensus is for an annualized pace of 836K. Meanwhile, Ben Bernanke is speaking at the Economic Club of New York at 12:15 p.m. ET today. This will be followed by a 20 minute Q&A.  

• Euro zone finance ministers are expected to give approval for the next tranche of loans to Greece when they meet today. The money is unlikely to be released before December however. 

• Commodity trader Glencore's shareholders voted in favor of its $31 billion takeover of miner Xstrata. Glencore is Xstrata's largest shareholder and Xstrata's shareholders are expected to vote on the deal later today.

• Former UBS trader Kweku Adoboli has been found guilty on one count of fraud in London. The jury is still deliberating on five other counts.

• In earnings news, Best Buy is expected to report earnings of $0.12 per share, and HP is expected to report earnings of $1.14 per share.