10 things you need to know before the opening bell

AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty

Joe Biden

Here is what you need to know.

1. Seizing on mounting Farm Belt frustration with President Donald Trump's economic agenda, Democratic rivals are stepping up their push to take back part of rural America. Farmers have been reeling from plunging prices and unsold crops during what is now more than a year-long trade war with China.

2. The world's biggest wealth manager just told clients to sell stocks - saying 'brace for higher volatility' from the trade war. "The threat to both the global economy and markets is clearly increasing," UBS' wealth management division said.

3. China is hoping the US can create conditions for talks, according to its foreign ministry. China's foreign ministry reiterated on Tuesday that it had not heard of any recent telephone call between the United States and China on trade, and said it hopes Washington can stop its unhelpful actions.

4. Switzerland's central bank is in close contact with relevant authorities over Facebook's Geneva-based Libra cyptocurrency project. "At the moment, it's difficult to perform a full analysis (of the project) because the available documents are very vague and details are still missing," National Bank Vice-Chairman Fritz Zurbruegg said on Tuesday.

5. Oil prices rose on Tuesday after US President Donald Trump said he expected to sign a trade deal with China, calming nerves after a round of tit-for-tat tariff hikes had sent markets reeling. Oil prices had fallen for three days in a row prior to Tuesday.

6. Hong Kong buying enquiries for expensive Australian and New Zealand homes have ramped up due to anti-government protests in the region. Jamie Mi, partner at Melbourne-based Kay & Burton, said the real estate agency was receiving about one-third more enquiries from Hong Kong buyers than usual, with most buyers targeting high-end properties priced above A$5 million ($3.4 million).

7. Tim Cook says Apple will be donating to help preserve the Amazon in the wake of devastating forest fires. Cook said on Twitter that his company would be donating to help preserve the Amazon after the region experienced a record number of fires.

8. Stocks are rising on Tuesday, with US futures flat. US futures, the S&P 500 is flat and the Nasdaq (+0.1%) is up marginally. In Europe, stocks are up with the Dax rising (+0.3%) along with the Euro Stoxx 50 (+0.2%). In Asia, stocks rallied on close with the Nikkei up (+1.0%), as was the Shanghai Composite (+1.4%) but the Hang Seng (-0.1%) fell marginally.

9. There are some exciting bank earnings out today. Scotiabank, Bank of China, and China Evergrande are all set to release earnings.

10. There is some important consumer data on the docket today. The house price index and consumer confidence readings are out later.