10 Things You Need To Know Before The Opening Bell

MIKE BIRD

 OCT. 31, 2014

REUTERS/Toru Hanai

Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda smiles as he leaves the International Conference on the Future of Asia in Tokyo May 24, 2013.

Good morning! Here are the major stories making headlines and moving markets globally early Friday.

Japan Shocked Markets With More QE. In the face of disappointing inflation, Bank of Japan governor Haruhiko Kuroda has hiked Japan’s bond purchases, and the Nikkei soared to a six year high. 

The Eurozone’s Inflation Ticked Up A Little. Eurozone inflation rose to 0.4%, taking pressure to ease off the European Central Bank a little, but not much: the core measure of inflation is at its joint-lowest in history. 

Russia Hiked Interest Rates Massively. The Russian central bank raised rates by 150 basis points to 9.5% in a gamble that higher rates will halt the ruble’s slide against the dollar and the euro.

German Retail Sales Fell Through The Floor. Germany’s retail sales dropped 3.2% in September, the worst monthly decline since May 2008.  

European Stocks Are Surging. France’s CAC 40 index is up 2.03%, Germany’s DAX is up 1.75% and the UK’s FTSE 100 is up 1.11%. That’s after a massive rally which sent the Nikkei up 4.83%.

Ukraine Seems To Have Brokered A Gas Deal With Russia. Russia agreed to resume gas deliveries to Ukraine through the winter in an EU-brokered deal reached by the three parties in Brussels on Thursday, an EU source said. 

Consumer Spending Is Coming. Personal income and spending figures from the US are coming, at 8:30 a.m. ET, figures that should give some idea of the economy’s strength in September. 

RBS Is Braced For $639 Million Of Fines. State-owned Royal Bank of Scotland has set aside £400 million (€509 million) to settle allegations of price-rigging in foreign exchange markets. 

Sony Reported A Narrower Q2 Loss Than Expected. Operating loss reached 85.6 billion yen ($771 million) in July-September, compared with the 164.3 billion yen average estimate of three analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.