10 Things You Need To Know Before The Opening Bell

MIKE BIRD

 SEP. 22, 2014

REUTERS/Adrees Latif

Performance artist John Bonafede marches on his hands as he drags dry ice, in representation of glaciers, while taking part in the People’s Climate March through Times Square, New York September 21, 2014.

Good morning! Here are the major worldwide stories investors need to know as the week gets started.

Tesco Is In Chaos After Overestimating Profits By £250 Million ($408 Million). The supermarket giant announced this morning that it had overstated its profits in the first half of the year by 23%. The store has suspended four senior executives, and it looks like the UK managing director is among them.

Merck KGaA is buying Sigma-Aldrich. The German firm is snapping up the US life sciences company for $17 billion at a 37% premium on the firm’s last closing price.

Siemens Has Also Made A Major Acquisition. The German firm is set to buy US oilfield equipment manufacturer Dresser-Rand for $7.6 billion.

Alibaba’s IPO Is Officially The Biggest Ever. The $25 billion flotation is completely unmatched after the e-commerce giant’s share price rose 38% on Friday.

Mario Draghi Is About To Speak At The European Parliament.The ECB boss will speak at 2 p.m. London time (9 a.m. ET) to European legislators. It’s Draghi’s first major address since Jackson Hole, and the disappointing news about the ECB’s bank credit scheme.

Volkswagen Is Launching A New Luxury Car Designed For China. The German auto manufacturer is looking to compete with Audi in the same market, following the success of the Audi A6.

Sarkozy Is Back. The former French President has re-launched himself into the political arena, and wants his job back from Francois Hollande. Sarkozy lost to Hollande in 2012, but with his approval ratings now atrocious, the former conservative leader wants another go at beating him 

Asian Economies Are Going To Have To Slow To Cope With The Fed. According to Indonesian finance minister Chatib Basri. The Fed’s tapering has already hit emerging markets, and Basri says it may get worse as the central bank hikes rates in the US.

European Markets Are Down A Touch. Germany’s DAX stock index is down 0.23% and France’s CAC 40 is down 0.11%. The FTSE 100 is the biggest loser right now, down 0.48%, not helped by Tesco’s crash. The Hang Seng and Nikkei also closed down 1.44% and 0.71% respectively.

China’s Anti-Graft Campaign Is Killing Outbound Investment.Investment coming from China has fallen rapidly, according to the Heritage Foundation. The Chinese energy sector has been targeted in anti-corruption measures, slowing spending.