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10 things you need to know before the opening bell

Jonathan Garber   

10 things you need to know before the opening bell
Stock Market3 min read

Brazil fans

Reuters/Adriano Machado

Brazilians in favor of the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff react while watching the televised voting of the Lower House of Congress over her impeachment in Brasilia, Brazil.

Here is what you need to know.

There was no oil deal at Doha. Talks concluded without a deal as Saudi Arabia demanded that Iran take part in any such freeze. "If Iran freezes its oil production … it cannot benefit from the lifting of sanctions," Iranian oil minister Bijan Zanganeh said over the weekend. Oil producing nations are now targeting June for a potential freeze. West Texas Intermediate crude oil is down 3.1% at $39.08 per barrel.

Brazil's president is on the brink of being impeached. President Dilma Rousseff lost an impeachment vote in Brazil's lower house of Congress on Sunday by a tally of 314-to-110, according to Reuters. The greater than two-thirds majority means Rousseff's fate now lies in the hands of Brazil's upper house of Congress. If the Senate agrees to proceed with the impeachment, Rousseff will be suspended until her trial concludes. Reuters says, Vice President Michel Temer will serve as acting President until a verdict is handed down. He would remain in the position until the term ends in 2018 if Rousseff is impeached.

Chinese home prices gained. In March, home prices in China gained in 62 of 70 cities tracked by the government, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics. Prices in Shenzhen rose 3.7% month-over-month, and are up an astounding 63% versus a year ago, according to Bloomberg. Elsewhere, Beijing and Shanghai saw monthly gains of 3.3% and 4.3%, respectively.

Singapore's export slump isn't good for the global economy. Data from International Enterprise showed non-oil exports from Singapore tumbled by 15.6% compared to a year ago, which was worse than the 13.2% decline that economists were forecasting. The drop was the steepest year-over-year comparison since February 2013. The closely followed electronics component sank 9.1% YoY and the non-electronic component plunged 18%. Of course this is bad news as Singapore's exports are viewed as a barometer for the health of the global economy.

Saudi Arabia has threatened to dump US Treasuries. Mark Mazzetti of The New York Times reports, Saudi Arabia has threatened to sell $750 billion worth of US Treasuries if Congress passes the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, a bill that would allow the Saudi government to be sued over 9/11. That message was reportedly given to US authorities during last month's visit from Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir. The Obama administration has been lobbying Congress to block the bill, saying it would put US citizens overseas at legal risk.

Morgan Stanley beats. The bank earned an adjusted $0.55 per share, topping the $0.47 that was expected by the Bloomberg consensus. Revenue of $7.8 billion slightly outpaced the $7.76 billion that analysts had forecast."The first quarter was characterized by challenging market conditions and muted client activity," CEO James Gorman said in a statement.

McGraw Hill is selling J.D. Power and Associates. China's XIO Group is paying $1.1 billion for the car rating unit. According to Reuters, XIO CEO Joseph Pacini said his company's expertise is to buy companies in North America and Europe and to help expand their reach into emerging markets in Asia. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter.

Stock markets pretty much everywhere are lower. Japan's Nikkei (-3.4%) led the losses in Asia and Spain's IBEX (-0.4%) paces the decline in Europe. S&P 500 futures are lower by 6.00 points at 2069.00 per dollar.

Earnings reporting picks up. Grainger, Hasbro and Pepsico are among the names reporting ahead of the opening bell. IBM and Netflix highlight the names releasing their quarterly results after markets close.

US economic data is light. The NAHB Housing Market Index will be released at 10 a.m. ET. The US 10-year yield is unchanged at 1.75%.

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