10 Things You Need To Know Before The Opening Bell

Matthew Boesler

 Dec. 13, 2012

Arun Nevader from Getty Images

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

• Asian markets were mixed in overnight trading, with the Nikkei rising 1.7 percent and the Shanghai Composite falling 1 percent. European markets are lower with the exception of Spain and Italy, both up 0.1 percent. In the United States, futures point to a slightly negative open.

• European finance ministers agreed today to give the ECB sole regulatory power over banks in the euro area. EU Financial Services Commissioner Michael Barnier said the new supervisory mechanism should be ready for implementation by March 1, 2014. The agreement represents an important step toward further integration in the euro area.

• Yields on 3-year Italian government bonds fell to 2.5 percent at today's auction, marking the lowest borrowing costs for Italy since October 2010. Spain also completed a successful auction, selling the longest-dated debt it's been able to issue in over a year.

• The Swiss National Bank voted to leave rates on hold at 0 percent at today's policy meeting and left the EUR/CHF floor at 1.20. SNB President Thomas Jordan said he could not rule out substantial interventions in the future to protect the price floor. Looking ahead, Deutsche Bank FX strategist George Saravelos writes, "the SNB will be important next year even by its absence. The central bank has been one of the largest active investors in global FX and fixed income markets this year."

• In its monthly bulletin, the ECB weighed in on the austerity debate in the euro area, writing, "well-designed consolidation leads to a permanent improvement in the structural balance, while the deterioration in growth, if any, is only temporary." The bulletin also reiterated the view that financial fragmentation in the euro area is on the decline, according to recent indicators.

• Google will make its map application for the Apple iPhone reports All Things D.  This comes after Apple's proprietary mapping app was met with horrible reviews from iPhone users.

• Advance retail sales figures for November are released at 8:30 AM ET in the United States. The consensus estimate is for a 0.4 percent rise in retail sales after the 0.3 percent drop registered in October. Retail sales less autos are expected to be flat, as they were in October.

• Also out at 8:30 AM are weekly jobless claims data. Economists expect initial claims to stay flat at 370K, while continuing claims are expected to tick up slightly to 3210K from 3205K last week.

• The U.S. producer price index will also be released at 8:30 AM, and is expected to have risen 1.8 percent from last year in November, down from October's reading of a 2.3 percent rise year-over-year. The ex-food and energy measure is expected to have risen 2.2 percent year-over-year after a 2.1 percent rise the month before.

• Business inventories round out the economic data in the U.S. at 10 AM ET. Economists project inventories to have risen 0.3 percent in October, after having risen 0.7 percent the month before.