10 things you need to know before the opening bell

Jonathan Garber

Apr 3, 2018, 16:22 IST

10 things you need to know before the opening bell

Reuters/Brian Snyder

iger Woods of the U.S. puts his finger in the air and golf patrons react after he chipped the ball into the hole on the second green during practice for the 2018 Masters golf tournament at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia.

Here is what you need to know.

Tech stocks get rocked. Monday's 2.74% slide has pushed the Nasdaq into negative territory for 2018, down about 0.5%.

Global markets were hit hard overnight. China's Shanghai Composite (-0.84%) led the losses in Asia and Germany's DAX (-1.31%) trails in Europe. The S&P 500 is set to open higher by 0.25% near 2,588.

Spotify is going public. The streaming-music company will direct list on the New York Stock Exchange at a reference price of $132 a share. It will trade under the ticker 'SPOT.'

Elon Musk fires back at report saying a shakeup is underway. "Can't believe you're even writing about this," Musk tweeted in response to a report from The Information citing unnamed sources that suggested the Tesla CEO had assumed control of Model 3 production. "My job as CEO is to focus on what's most critical, which is currently Model 3 production. Doug, who I regard as one of the world's most talented engineering execs, is focused on vehicle engineering."

Fox could sell Sky News to Disney. News Corp Chairman Rupert Murdoch said his company could sell or separate Sky News in an effort to get regulatory approval for its $14.5 billion bid for Sky, Reuters reports.

Gundlach says bitcoin leads stock market movements. "Bitcoin closed at the low of the year last week, SPX (Standard & Poor's 500 Index) is now at the low of the year this week," DoubleLine Capital founder Jeffrey Gundlach told Reuters. "Bitcoin keeps leading."

The SEC charges 2 crypto founders with fraud. Sam Sharma and Robert Farkas, two of the founders of Centra, have been charged with fraud related to the startup's $32 million initial coin offering.

Australia holds rates. The Reserve Bank of Australia held its key interest rate at 1.50%, as expected, and appeared more confident on the outlook for household spending but not that Australian unemployment will continue to fall.

Earnings reporting is light. Dave & Busters reports after markets close.

US economic trickles out. US Auto and truck sales will be released throughout the day.