10 Things You Need To Know Before The Opening Bell

Mamta Badkar

 Mar. 20, 2013

Chris Jackson/Getty Images

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

• Asian markets were mixed in overnight trading with the Shanghai Composite up 2.66 percent, rising the most in two months. Europe is rallying and U.S. future are higher. 

• Cyprus' finance minister Michael Sarris continues to be in talks with Russia for aid. The island nation's parliament rejected the EU bailout deal yesterday, with not a single member of parliament voting for it. 

• The FOMC meeting announcement and forecasts are out at 2 p.m. ET, after the Fed revised it release time. This will be follow by Fed chairman Ben Bernanke's press conference at 2:30 p.m. ET. The asset purchase program and interest rates are expected to remain unchanged but analysts are watching the language for clues on QE. 

• UK chancellor George Osborne is presenting the 2013 Budget to parliament at 12:30 GMT (8:30 a.m. ET). He is expected to stick to his plan for austerity, and analysts expect the focus of this Budget to be on monetary, not fiscal policy. 

• In M&A news, Yahoo is in talks to buy a controlling stake in Dailymotion which could be valued at $300 million. Meanwhile, American Realty Capital has offered to buy Cole Credit Property Trust for $5.7 billion, "to create the largest publicly traded REIT [Real Estate Investment Trust] in the net lease sector," according to Reuters.

• J.P. Morgan was downgraded in a secret scorecard from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency over concerns about the company’s leadership, according to the Wall Street Journal. On a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the worst, JP Morgan is now at 3.

• HP's board is set to come under pressure during its annual shareholder meeting today, over the company's $8.8 billion writedown of Autonomy Corp.

• Freddie Mac has sued more than 12 of the world's biggest banks including Bank of America and JP Morgan for alleged Libor manipulation, according to The Wall Street Journal. It also sued the British Bankers' Association.

• UK jobless claims declined by 1,500 to 1.54 million, missing expectations for a decline of 5,000.

• President Barack Obama is on a three-day visit to Israel to help smooth relations between the Israelis and Palestinians. Obama and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu are set to hold a press conference later in the day.