10 things you need to know before the opening bell

Reuters

This is what you need to know.

1. The UK will have a new Prime Minister by the afternoon, as the Conservative party picks either Boris Johnson or Jeremy Hunt as their new leader. Boris Johnson is set to be leader barring any upsets.

2. The White House and Congress just reached a deal that would avert a major fiscal crisis in Washington this fall. The Trump administration and congressional Democrats forged an agreement to add billions to government spending and lift the debt limit for two years.

3. The UK might already be in a recession - before even leaving the EU. The National Institute for Economic and Social Research says that the UK economy has stalled and that there is a one-in-four chance the economy could be in recession.

4. Apple is reportedly in talks to buy Intel's smartphone-modem chip business for $1 billion. Intel stunned the tech world in April when it announced that it was getting out of the 5G smartphone-modem business.

5. UBS posts surprise second-quarter profit boost. UBS beat forecasts with a $1.4 billion net profit for its second quarter of 2019, as gains in its advisory business softened an investment-banking fall and boosted its Swiss-retail and corporate-banking business.

6. China's new Nasdaq-style STAR Market plunges on second day of trading. There were sharp falls in most listed shares a day after they posted average gains of 140%, underscoring the volatility of the country's new tech exchange.

7. American farmers look past trade fears to cash in on China's hog crisis. The devastating impact of African swine fever on the Chinese pork industry is trumping concerns about trade wars and tariffs.

8. Stocks around the world today are rallying. US futures S&P 500 (+0.2%) and the Nasdaq (+0.3%) are up. In Europe, the Dax (+1.1%) and Euro Stoxx (+0.8%) were both rising. Asian stocks closed on the up, with the Nikkei 225 (+1.0%), Shanghai Composite (+0.5%) and Hang Seng(+0.3%) all up.

9. It is another bumper day for earnings. Visa and Coca-Cola both have their earnings out. European banks Santander and UBS also reported their results.

10. There's some interesting data out today. The US housing price index is out and in Japan, Bank of Japan Governor Kuroda's speech could offer valuable insights.