10 things you need to know before the opening bell

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10 things you need to know before the opening bell

U.S. President Donald Trump talks to reporters as he departs the White House on travel to Orlando, Florida from the White House in Washington, U.S., June 18, 2019. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Reuters

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Here is what you need to know.

1. Donald Trump may have warned Iran about a US missile strike. The president flagged a planned retaliation over the downing of a US drone before ultimately calling it off, the Middle Eastern nation said.

2. Central banks want to regulate Facebook's Libra cryptocurrency. "It has to be safe, or it's not going to happen," said Bank of England Governor Mark Carney.

3. Huawei has shipped 100 million smartphones this year. Given the Chinese tech giant was recently blacklisted by the US government, it could struggle to match the more than 200 million smartphones it shipped in 2018.

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4. Hong Kong protests continue. Thousands of protesters gathered in front of the city's police headquarters to call for a controversial extradition bill to be withdrawn.

5. Traders are piling into US debt. The 10-year Treasury yield fell below 2% for the first time since 2016 this week, signaling investors are concerned about global economic growth and trade tensions.

6. Google has scrapped plans to make its own tablets. The tech titan has halted production of two unreleased tablet devices and will focus on its Pixelbook laptops.

7. Tariffs on Chinese goods have cost US consumers at least $22 billion. The estimate doesn't account for Trump's tariff hikes on $200 billion Chinese goods in May, so the current total is likely to be much higher.

8. Gold and oil prices have soared this week. The oil rally continued on Friday with West Texas Intermediate crude up 0.2% at $57.20 a barrel, and Brent crude up 0.5% at $64.80. After passing the $1,400 mark on Thursday, gold dipped by 0.4% to $1,391 an ounce. After closing at a record high on Thursday, the S&P 500 is set to open 0.3% lower at around 2,952.

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9. A few major earnings reports are coming out. South African media titan Naspers is set to release its full-year results, while used-car retailing giant CarMax will publish its first-quarter earnings.

10. Manufacturing surveys are on the way. The latest Purchasing Managers Index readings should provide insights into the health of US manufacturing and services.

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