Before the bell: What you need to know before the US market open
The latest round of consolidation in the drugs and chemicals industry is on after Germany Bayer made a $62bn bid for US seeds company Monsanto while European PMIs this morning have added to European economist concerns. Here's what you need to know before the open.
US pre-market futures are mixed today. The S&P is down by 0.06 per cent, while the Nasdaq is up by 0.06 per cent. The Dow is down by 0.05 per cent.
Europe is off to a bad start for the week with the FTSE 100 down by 0.23 per cent in early afternoon trading, while the German Dax is down by 0.74 per cent.
Read more: The decadence of Europe’s dismal elites is fuelling the populist surge across the EU
Asian markets ended the day with mixed results after Japanese economic data showed the country's exports fell sharply in April and manufacturing activity suffered the fastest contraction since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe came to power in late 2012.
Oil prices are down by around one per cent since the open to the week last night to trade around $48 per barrel for both US WTI and Brent crude.
Stocks to watch
US President Obama has revealed the country will lift its decades old ban on arms sales to Vietnam, opening up a fresh source of sales to defense contractors.
Boeing could be leading the pack after signing an $11.3bn deal to sell 100 737s to airline VietJet.
Newspaper publisher Tribune has rejected Gannett's latest $864m takeover offer, deeming it inadequate.
Tribune CEO Justin Dearborn said in a statement: "We stand ready to work with Gannett to assess whether there is a path forward that will create more value for both sets of shareholders."
Read more: Will Greece’s crisis go on indefinitely without debt relief?
A deal to create the US' biggest health insurer by members is on the rocks after Anthem and Cigna accused each other of violating the terms of their agreement announced last July. It has been reported that disagreements could delay regulatory signoff on the deal.
Economic data out today
We've already had mixed PMIs out of Europe this morning and now we'll get the US manufacturing PMI for May at 2:45pm London time.
Throughout the rest of the week however investors are going to be closely watching economic developments for clues on whether the Fed will hike interest rates in June.