Premarket: 5 things to know before the bell

Mon Dec 11 2017
Julie Young (605 articles)
Premarket: 5 things to know before the bell

1. Bitcoin evolution: Bitcoin futures are live.

Cboe Global Markets, a top U.S. owner of financial exchanges, began offering bitcoin futures on Sunday, allowing investors to speculate on whether the digital currency’s price will rise or fall.
Bitcoin itself got a lift from the new activity on the Chicago exchange. It jumped about 8% in less than 10 minutes — to more than $ 15,700 — after the trading began.

Prices zoomed past $ 16,600 by early Monday morning, according to data from CoinDesk.

Bitcoin is up around 1,500% so far this year, but many analysts are warning the market is a bubble.

On the futures exchange, contracts expiring next month were trading at roughly $ 17,500.

2. Big week for central banks: The Federal Reserve, the Bank of England and the European Central bank will each announce rate decisions this week.

The Fed promises to be the main event: Investors expect rates to go up at the final meeting chaired by Janet Yellen.

The BOE and ECB are not expected to change policy, but they might give more details on their plans for 2018.

The three central banks are now moving broadly in the same direction, raising interest rates and unwinding stimulus programs.

Central banks pumped have pumped stimulus worth $ 11 trillion into the global financial system since the 2008 crisis, according to JPMorgan.

3. Global market overview: U.S. stock futures were higher.

European markets opened in positive territory, while Asian markets ended their session with gains.

U.S. crude oil futures were 0.7% lower at below $ 57 per barrel.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.5% on Friday, closing at a new record. The S&P 500 added 0.6%, notching a new high of its own. The Nasdaq gained 0.4%

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4. Economics and companies: JOLTS labor market data for October will be published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics at 10:00 a.m. ET.

GDP growth in Turkey hit 11.5% in the third quarter, its quickest pace in six years. But there was a caveat.

“The sharp pick-up was flattered by the comparison with third quarter of last year, when output was disrupted by the coup attempt,” said William Jackson, senior emerging markets economist at Capital Economics.

Shares in BAE Systems (BAESF) jumped 0.8% in London after the defense contractor announced it had sold 24 Typhoon aircraft to Qatar. The deal is valued at £5 billion ($ 6.7 billion).

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5. Coming this week:

Monday — JOLTS job market report
Tuesday — Fed meeting begins; U.K. inflation data
Wednesday — Fed decision and Yellen press conference; U.K. unemployment data; OPEC oil report; U.S. inflation data
Thursday — U.S. retail sales; Bank of England rate decision; European Central Bank decision; Costco and Oracle earnings; IEA oil report; EU summit; Black Friday retail results Friday — EU Summit on Brexit

Julie Young

Julie Young

Julie Young is a Senior Market Reporter and Analyst. She has been covering stock markets for many years.