10 things you need to know before the opening bell

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10 things you need to know before the opening bell
Getty Images / Bryan R. Smith

Here's what you need to know before the markets open.

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1. 'Look at the stock market NOW!' Trump cheers record rally and predicts the US economy will roar back next year, as the pandemic tanks growth. The president's bullish tweet comes as protests march on across the country and the coronavirus pandemic continues to weigh on growth and employment.

2. The ECB announced €600 billion ($675 billion) in additional stimulus to help the eurozone fight the coronavirus. In a Thursday announcement, the central bank said it was expanding its PEPP (pandemic emergency purchase programme) to a total of €1.35 trillion ($1.52 trillion.)

3. Germany agrees a fresh $146 billion stimulus plan to fight the economic impact of coronavirus, days after the EU's record-breaking proposal. German chancellor Angela Merkel said the country will slash its VAT from 19% to 16% for six months as of July 1.

4. Consumers might abandon credit cards and push $100 billion of spending onto debit cards every year because of coronavirus, a Visa executive says. Visa's US credit-card volumes fell sharply in May year-on-year, while debit-card usage grew 12%, according to an SEC filing this week.

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5. An oil CEO says crude prices could surge 90% to $70 by fall because US firms have 'over-cut production'. Dan Eberhart, CEO of Canary, said the US has over cut production so "there is going to be a mini supply shock for the US oil market."

6. Amazon in talks to buy $2 billion stake in Indian mobile operator Bharti Airtel. The planned investment would mean Amazon acquiring a roughly 5% stake based on the current market value of India's third-largest telecom company.

7. LVMH says it is not considering buying Tiffany shares via the market. LVMH, the owner of Louis Vuitton, secured an agreement to purchase Tiffany in November but has not closed the deal.

8. Global stocks are mostly down. In Europe, Germany's DAX fell 0.5%, Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.4%, and the Euro Stoxx 50 fell 0.5%. In Asia, China's Shanghai Composite fell 0.2%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.2%, and Japan's Nikkei rose 0.1% at the close. In the US, futures underlying the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500, and the Nasdaq rose fell between 0.2% and 0.4%.

9. Earnings expected today. Toshiba and Tiffany are highlights.

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10. On the data docket. Continuing Jobless Claims, Nonfarm Productivity, and the US 4-Week Bill Auction are due for release.

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