10 Things You Need To Know Before The Opening Bell

10 Things Before Opening Bell

May 22, 2014

Good morning! Here's what you need to know.

There Is A Military Coup In Thailand. The country has seen months of anti-government protests that left 28 people dead and ultimately led to the ouster of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra earlier this month. There have been, depending on who's counting between 11 and 19 coups over the past 81 years there. Markets are unfazed.

North Korea Fires Near South's Warship. The DPRK fired shells in disputed waters and near a South Korean military vessel. Earlier this week the South fired warning shots at a North ship, and Pyongyang vowed it would retaliate.

China PMI. The flash reading for May hit a five-month high though remained in contraction territory at 49.7.

Everyone But France. The Eurozone saw its PMI composite output index slip to 53.9 in May from 54.0 in April. Anything above 50 is still means expansion is occurring. But France's PMI tumbled to a 3-month low of 49.3. "France’s stuttering economic performance continued in May, with output sliding back into contraction following modest increases in the previous two months," said Markit's Jack Kennedy.

Best Buy Sales. Comps fell 1.9% in Q1, and the big boxer says it expects consumer electronics sales to be weaker until marquee names start launching new products. BBY shares are down nearly 4% premarket.

Sears Sales. Slowing electronics demand caused same-store sales at Kmart to fall 2.2% in Q1. Comps climbed 0.2% at Sears, but would have been up 0.8% "without the dampening effect of electronics," the FT reported. The retailer also plans to close more stores. SHLD shares are off nearly 3% premarket.

Rouble Rally. The Russian rouble hit a four-month high against the dollar as the Ukraine crisis appeared to ratchet down. NATO chief Anders Fogh-Rasmussen Tweeted that there were signs Russian forces were finally preparing to withdraw from the Ukrainian border.

Jobless Claims, Flash PMI, Fed Data. The Labor Department releases weekly jobless claims at 8:30 a.m. Expectations are for claims to increase to 310,000 from 297,000. At 9:45 we get a flash reading for manufacturing PMI. Consensus is for a reading of 55.9, up from 55.4. The Chicago and KC feds all release business activity reports today.

Existing Home Sales. The National Association of Realtors will release existing home sales for April at 10 a.m. Consensus is for sales of 4.67 million on seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) basis. Sales in March were at a 4.59 million SAAR.

Markets. U.S. futures are higher. Stocks in Europe saw mixed gains. The Nikkei climbed more than 2%.

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