10 Things You Need To Know Before The Opening Bell

TOMAS HIRST

 OCT. 7, 2014

REUTERS/Lukas Barth

The economic picture out of Germany keeps getting worse.

Good morning! Here’s what you need to know.

Good morning! Here’s what you need to know. 

Germany Industrial Production Plunges. German industrial production dropped 4% from July to August, versus an expected decline of 1.5%. This represents the biggest month-on-month drop since 2009. The German manufacturing sector is in a recession,” said Pantheon Macroeconomics’ Claus Vistesen.

Hewlett-Packard Is Splitting In Two. After announcing that the company would seperate into two different businesses, the company increased its target layoff to 55,000. 

Rio Tinto Rejects Glencore Merger Approach. “Rio Tinto rejected a merger approach from smaller rival Glencore Plc to create a $160 billion mining and trading giant,” Reuters’ Sonali Paul reported. “Speculation had grown around a Glencore bid for Rio as prices of iron ore, which made up 92% of Rio’s first-half profit, have slumped to five-year lows, as the top producers have flooded the market with new supply.” 

Markets Are Down. In Europe, Britain’s FTSE is down 0.59%, France’s CAC 40 is down 0.94% and Germany’s DAX is down 0.69%. Asia closed mixed, with Japan’s Nikkei down 0.67% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng up 0.25%. U.S. futures are down, with Dow futures down 66 points, S&P futures down 7.4 points, and Nasdaq futures down 14.25 points. 

The Bank of Japan Stays The Course. Despite worrying signs of a slowing economy and the yen trading at a near six-year low, the BoJ decided against further monetary policy easing, predicting a return to moderate growth.

UK Factory Output Growth Slows In August. “Output for manufacturing rose a monthly 0.1 percent in August, down from growth of 0.3% in July,” Reuters reports. “The Office for National Statistics attributed some of the slowdown to carmakers halting production lines for longer than usual for maintenance.”

Deutsche Bank In Talks With Regulator To Settle Libor Case. The Wall Street Journal reports that regulators are pushing for a settlement of “hundreds of millions of dollars to resolve rate-rigging allegations.”

Brussels Targets Amazon’s Luxembourg Tax Deal. The European Commission is set to launch an in-depth probe into Amazon’s Luxembourg tax arrangements over serious concerns of improper state aid, according to the FT.

The Plunging Russian Ruble Is Hitting Western European Corporations. With the currency now at a record low against the euro and dollar, companies that bet heavily on the country, including as PSA Peugeot Citroen, Henkel AG, and Carlsberg, are starting to suffer.

The IMF Will Discuss Its Global Economic Outlook. The Fund will hold a live press conference at 9 a.m. ET on Tuesday to discuss the release of Chapters 1 & 2  of the World Economic Outlook.