10 things you need to know before the opening bell
Reuters/Kevin Lamarque
Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker resigns. Lacker resigned effective Tuesday after apparently admitting to leaking secret, market-sensitive information about key discussions on interest rate policy within the central bank to consulting firm Medley Global Advisors. Business Insider's Pedro Nicolaci da Costa gives his first-hand account of the matter.
Obamacare is more popular than ever. A new Gallup poll found that 55% of respondents approve of Obamacare. That's the first time since Gallup began asking about Obamacare back in November 2012 that its approval rating has climbed above 50%.
Zuma receives the backing of his party. South African President Jacob Zuma has received the backing of his African National Congress party, which has rejected calls for Zuma to step down, Reuters says. The South African rand is weaker by 1.5% at 13.8350 per dollar.
Europe's economy had its best quarter in 6 years. The latest PMI surveys from IHS Markit showed March's composite reading of 56.4 was the best pace of expansion since the first quarter of 2011.
Theresa May is trying to get Saudi Aramco to list in London. The UK's prime minister brought London Stock Exchange Chairman Xavier Rolet to a meeting with Saudi Oil Minister Khalid al-Falih, The Times says.
ChemChina's $43 billion takeover of Syngenta receives EU approval. First, ChemChina must divest "a significant part" of its Adama unit's pesticide business, Bloomberg says.
Snapchat's lead underwriter made an error analyzing the stock. Morgan Stanley published an equity research note on Snapchat and gave the stock a $28 target. A day later the bank issued a correction, changing important metrics in the model, but not the $28 target.
Stock markets around the world are up. China's Shanghai Composite (+1.5%) led in Asia and Spain's IBEX (+0.4%) is out front in Europe. The S&P 500 is set to open little changed near 2,358.
Earnings reports trickle out. Monsanto and Walgreens Boot Alliance report ahead of the opening bell while Bed Bath & Beyond and Yum China release their quarterly results after markets close.
US economic data is heavy. ADP Employment Change will be released at 8:15 a.m. ET before Markit PMIs and ISM non-manufacturing cross the wires at 9:45 a.m. ET and 10 a.m. ET, respectively. The minutes from the March FOMC meeting are due out at 2 p.m. ET. The US 10-year yield is unchanged at 2.36%.
- US buys 81 Soviet-era combat aircraft from Russia's ally costing on average less than $20,000 each, report says
- 2 states where home prices are falling because there are too many houses and not enough buyers
- A couple accidentally shipped their cat in an Amazon return package. It arrived safely 6 days later, hundreds of miles away.
- Why did a NASA spacecraft suddenly start talking gibberish after more than 45 years of operation? What fixed it?
- ICICI Bank shares climb nearly 5% after Q4 earnings; mcap soars by ₹36,555.4 crore
- Markets rebound sharply on buying in bank stocks firm global trends
- Bengaluru's rental income highest in Q1-2024, Mumbai next: Anarock report
- Rupee falls 10 paise to settle at 83.48 against US dollar