10 Things You Need To Know Before The Opening Bell

MIKE BIRD

OCT. 29, 2014

Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters

Ukraine may be close to an agreement on gas with Russia.

Good morning! Here are the major stories making waves in global financial markets early Wednesday.

The Fed Decision Is Coming. The Federal Reserve announces its latest monetary policy decision at 2 p.m. ET, with the final tapering installment and the end of QE3 expected. 

The Ruble Is Pushing To Fresh Lows. The ruble fell to a record low against the dollar and euro in early trading Wednesday despite a $2.5 billion intervention from the Russian central bank to prop up the currency.

Algeria Has Started Selling Light Crude Oil To Venezuela. That’s helping to prop up demand for oil as the price falls from Algeria’s perspective, but it’s a clear symbol of Venezuela’s decline. 

Facebook Is Taking A Beating. Facebook execs warned that 2015 will be a big year of investment for the company, and the share price dropped 10% in after-hours trading. 

Deutsche Bank Just Posted A $117 Million Loss And Fired Its CFO. Deutsche Bank reported a quarterly net loss of 92 million euros on Wednesday as heavy legal costs outweighed a rise in investment banking earnings.

There’s A 50% Chance Of Russia-Ukraine Gas Deal. Guenther Oettinger told Germany’s ZDF TV that a lot had been achieved so far in the three-way negotiations, but when asked what the chances were of a breakthrough, he answered: “Fifty percent.”

Nintendo Beat Analyst Forecasts. Long-struggling Japanese video game maker Nintendo eked out an unexpected operating profit in its fiscal second quarter, bolstering hopes it may be on track for its first annual profit in four years.

Hitachi Profits Surged. Hitachi said Wednesday its net profit for the six months to September nearly tripled to $850 million as the Japanese giant hiked its full-year earnings forecast.

Volkswagen Recalls Over 270,000 Audi Cars. Volkswagen’s Chinese joint venture will recall 270,635 Audi cars in China due to an air bag software issue, China’s quality watchdog said on Wednesday. 

Markets Are Rallying. In Europe, Germany’s DAX is up 0.77%, France’s CAC 40 is up 0.33% and the UK’s FTSE 100 is up 0.75%. Asian markets saw significant gains, with the Nikkei up 1.46% and the Hang Seng up 1.27%.