10 things you need to know before the opening bell

Here is what you need to know.

Markets are interpreting Wednesday's Fed decision a lot differently than economists are. Wednesday's Federal Open Market Committee statement included the phrase, "Near-term risks to the economic outlook have diminished." Many economists took that as a signal that the Fed is preparing for its next interest-rate hike. But markets are responding differently. Fed fund futures suggest a 45.2% chance of a December rate hike (versus 49.2% Wednesday morning), the US 10-year yield is down to 1.50% (versus 1.53% ahead of the meeting), and gold is up to $1,340 an ounce (up from $1,327 ahead of the decision).

Russia could be nearing the end of its recession. Russia's economy shrank 0.6% year-over-year in the second quarter. "Industrial production, transport, and agriculture were the main factors behind the contraction slowdown," the Russian Ministry of Economic Development said.

AB InBev's merger with SABMiller is in jeopardy. SABMiller has told its employees to stop working on the company's merger with Anheuser-Busch InBev. Activist investors, including Elliott Management, are concerned the $125 billion deal doesn't pay them enough because of the drop in the value of the pound following the Brexit vote.

Facebook crushed earnings. The social-media giant announced adjusted earnings of $0.97 a share on a 59% jump in revenue to $6.44 billion, easily beating both the top and bottom lines. Daily active users and monthly active users spiked 17% and 15%.

Whole Foods' same-store sales sagged. The grocery-store chain earned an adjusted $0.37 a share on revenue of $3.7 billion. Same-store sales sank 2.6%, missing the 2.4% decline that analysts were anticipating. As for the company's new chain, 365 by Whole Foods Market, co-CEO John Mackey said, "Through lower capital and operating costs, we are able to offer great values to our customers, and the response [to 365] has been overwhelmingly positive."

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Shell was hit hard by the oil crash. Royal Dutch Shell said profit crashed by more than 70% in the second quarter to $1 billion. "Lower oil prices continue to be a significant challenge across the business, particularly in the upstream (business)," CEO Ben van Beurden said in the earnings statement.

Groupon spikes 25% on earnings. The local-deals shopping site lost $0.01 a share on revenue of $756 million. It added 1 million customers in the second quarter, its most in two years.

Stock markets around the world trade mostly lower. Spain's IBEX (-1.5%) lags in Europe after Japan's Nikkei (-1.1%) underperformed in Asia. China's Shanghai Composite (+0.1%) eked out a gain. S&P 500 futures are up 2.50 points at 2,163.00.

Earnings reporting remains heavy. AllianceBernstein, CME, Colgate Palmolive, Dow Chemical, Ford Motor, Harley-Davidson, Hershey, and MasterCard are among the companies reporting ahead of the opening bell. Amazon.com, Baidu, Google, and Wynn Resorts highlight the names releasing their quarterly results after markets close.

US economic data trickles out. Initial jobless claims and the trade balance will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The US 10-year yield is unchanged at 1.50%.