Premarket: 6 things to know before the bell

Mon Jul 10 2017
Ramesh Sridharan (910 articles)
Premarket: 6 things to know before the bell

1. Prime time: Amazon’s third annual Prime Day kicks off at 9 p.m. ET on Monday and runs for 30 hours.

Amazon(AMZN, Tech30) is again promising big deals to its Prime members around the world and says new deals will be offered every five minutes.

Amazon says customers who do not already have Prime memberships can sign up as late as Tuesday to take advantage of the deals. A membership costs around $ 100 per year.

2. Model 3 arrives: Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk is making headlines again after posting photos online of his company’s first mass market electric car, the Model 3.

The first model rolled off the production line over the weekend. A board member gifted the debut car to Musk as a present on his 46th birthday.

Other models produced by Tesla sell for eye-popping prices, and the new four-door sedan is intended to be much more affordable.

Shares in Tesla tanked last week over concerns about its ability to produce enough cars to meet demand.

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3. Nerves of steel: The Trump administration could announce plans for new international steel tariffs as soon as Monday.

The administration argues that the U.S. is too dependent on foreign steel for military equipment and infrastructure such as roads and bridges.

By invoking national security concerns, Trump has broad powers to implement new tariffs.

The big questions are: How big could the tariffs be and who could be targeted?

4. Brexit Britain: A new survey from Visa (V) showed that spending by British households dipped 0.3% in the second quarter over the same period last year.

That’s the worst performance in nearly four years, and the latest sign that consumers are feeling the heat ahead of the U.K.’s departure from the European Union.

5. Stock market overview: Stocks are looking sunny right now.

U.S. stock futures are pointing up. Nearly all European markets rose in early trading.

Most Asian markets ended the day with gains.

This follows a positive Friday when the Dow Jones industrial average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq all rose by 0.4% to 1%. Investors were reacting to a better-than-expected U.S. jobs report.

6. Coming this week:

Monday — Amazon Prime Day starts in the evening; World Petroleum Congress in Istanbul; Eurozone finance ministers meet
Tuesday — Pepsi (PEP) earnings; Amazon Prime Day continues; International Energy Agency publishes annual World Energy Investment Report
Wednesday — Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen begins two days of back-to-back hearings about monetary policy before House and Senate lawmakers; OPEC issues monthly oil report; U.K. releases unemployment figures
Thursday — Delta Air Lines (DAL) earnings
Friday — JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Citigroup (C) and Wells Fargo (WFC) earnings; President Trump in Paris for Bastille Day

Ramesh Sridharan

Ramesh Sridharan

Ramesh Sridharan is our Stock Market Correspondent covering events and daily movements of stock markets in Asia. He is based in Mumbai