10 Things You Need To Know Before The Opening Bell

MIKE BIRD

OCT. 30, 2014

REUTERS/Amit Dave

Good morning! Here are the major stories making an impact early Thursday.

Rosneft’s Profits Are Collapsing. Rosneft, Russia’s biggest oil producer, reported a net profit of just 1 billion rubles ($23 million) in the third quarter, down from 172 billion rubles ($3 billion) in the previous quarter

German Unemployment Took An Unexpected Plunge. According to figures out Thursday from the country’s statistical agency, the number of people out of work and looking fell by 22,000 in October. The rate stays unchanged at 6.7%.

Modi Madness Catapulted India Stocks To Record Highs. India’s Sensex stock index is climbing to record intraday highs early Thursday. It’s up 0.92% today so far, sitting at 27,265.73 currently.

European Business Sentiment Ticked Up. After four months of stagnation or decline, economic sentiment among business managers in Europe has finally picked up in the euro currency area (by 0.8 points to 100.7).

Chad Holliday Will Be Shell’s First American Chairman. Bank of America’s ex-chairman Chad Holliday is about to become oil giant Shell’s chairman, according to a filing from the massive multinational Thursday morning. 

European Markets Are Getting Hit. After opening up, the major European equities indices are taking a beating. France’s CAC 40 is down 1.11%, Germany’s DAX is down 1.40% and the FTSE 100 is down 1.04%.

Barclays Is Braced For An $800 Million Forex Fine. Barclays on Thursday set aside £500 million ($800 million) linked to probes into price-rigging allegations in foreign exchange markets, and posted slumping third-quarter net profits.

US GDP Is Coming. Third quarter GDP figures will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET, with analysts expecting 3% annualized growth, a slight slowdown from the second quarter. 

Retailers Are Changing Their View On Apple Pay. MCX CEO Dekkers Davidson shot down an earlier report from The New York Timesthat said MCX members would suffer fines or penalties if they accepted Apple Pay.

Samsung Profits Are Sinking. Samsung Electronics says its third-quarter income has plunged 49% to the lowest level in nearly three years as its handset business slows down.