Career News 24/7: 10 Things You Need To Know Before The Opening Bell, April 4, 2012

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

10 Things You Need To Know Before The Opening Bell, April 4, 2012

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Wednesday, April 4, 2012

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

Markets in Asia mostly sold off in overnight trading, with Japan's Nikkei declining 2.3 percent. European shares are lower this morning and U.S. futures point to a negative open.
Spain sold €2.59 billion worth of three, four, and eight year debt to tepid demand. The bid-to-cover ratio declined to just 2.41 against a 4.96 ratio at the last similar auction. Yields on the Spanish 10-year soared to 5.556 percent. Here's why Spain is the new Greece >
The European Central Bank will be out with its monetary policy decision for April at 7:45 a.m. Economists anticipate the ECB will not change its key rate from 1.0 percent.
France and Germany saw upwards revisions to final PMI services readings for March, both showing somewhat modest expansion. The French reading increased 10 basis points to 50.1, while Germany was boosted 30 basis points to 52.1. A reading over 50 indicates growth.
Eurozone retail sales declined by 0.1 percent in February, marginally better than consensus estimates for a 0.2 percent fall. January sales were revised to a 1.1 percent gain, from an initial estimate of just 0.3 percent.
German factory orders increased 0.3 percent in February, missing economists expectations for a 1.5 percent rise. Eurozone orders showed weakness while business from outside the EU gained 5.0 percent.
Mitt Romney swept three primaries overnight, gaining 85 delegates through his wins. Romney received 43 and 49 percent of the vote in Wisconsin and Maryland, respectively. In Washington D.C., he won 70 percent of the vote. Rick Santorum added six delegates from Wisconsin.
U.S. economic announcements kick off at 8:15 a.m. with the ADP Employment Change. The March report is expected to show 206,000 net new positions were added during the month. Follow the announcement live on Money Game.
One positive datapoint already: weekly mortgage claims for the week ended March 30 jumped 4.8 percent. That reverses a multi-week slide.
Bed Bath and Beyond and Monsanto are scheduled to report quarterly results today. The Street anticipates Bed Bath will post earnings per share of $1.32, while Monsanto earns $2.12 a share.