10 things you need to know before the opening bell

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10 things you need to know before the opening bell

California wildfire

Reuters/Patrick T Fallon

People stand on a roof of a home illuminated with Christmas lights to watch wildfire on a hillside burn during the Thomas Fire in Santa Barbara county near Carpinteria, California.

Here is what you need to know.

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The Fed meets. The US central bank is widely expected to raise its key interest rate 25 basis points to a range of 1.25% to 1.50% at the conclusion of Wednesday's meeting.

Roy Moore loses in Alabama. Democrat Doug Jones was declared the winner in the Alabama special election on Tuesday, shrinking the Republican Party's Senate majority to just one seat.

Tillerson says the US is ready to talk to North Korea. "We're ready to talk anytime North Korea would like to talk, and we're ready to have the first meeting without precondition," Tillerson told former National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley during a question and answer session. "Let's just meet. We can talk about the weather if you want ... But can we at least sit down and see each other face to face, and then we can lay out a map, a roadmap, of what we might be willing to work towards."

UK employment drops. The UK's unemployment rate stayed at a record low 4.3% in the three months to October, but 56,000 fewer people held jobs, according to the latest data from the Office of National Statistics.

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Bank of America says the bull market has plenty of 'gas in the tank.' The bank's technical team says the chart for 2018 looks a lot like 2014, and that the S&P 500 could hit 3,000 by the end of next year.

Litecoin's creator issues a stern warning to investors. "Sorry to spoil the party, but I need to reign in the excitement a bit…," Litecoin creator Charlie Lee tweeted. "Buying LTC is extremely risky. I expect us to have a multi-year bear market like the one we just had where LTC dropped 90% in value ($48 to $4). So if you can't handle LTC dropping to $20, don't buy!"

Tesla hits an 8-week high. Shares of the electric auto maker touched their best level in eight weeks Tuesday, propelled by news that Pepsi reserved 100 of its Semis.

Uber loses its license in a 3rd UK city. The City of York Council's Gambling, Licensing and Regulatory Committee rejected Uber's application to renew its license, citing concerns about the recent data breach and the number of complaints it had received about the service, Reuters says.

Stock markets around the world trade mixed. China's Shanghai Composite (-1.25%) trailed in Asia and Britain's FTSE (+0.10%) clings to gains in Europe. The S&P 500 is set to open little changed near 2,666.

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US economic is light. CPI will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The US 10-year yield is up 1 basis point at 2.41%.