10 things you need to know before the opening bell (SPY, SPX, QQQ, DIA, SNAP)

pulse

June 8, 2017 11:57 AM

This is what traders are talking about.

The witness table where former FBI Director James Comey will face the US Senate Intelligence Committee and testify on Thursday about his meetings with President Trump.

Here is what you need to know.

Comey to testify. Former FBI Director James Comey will testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday. In his prepared remarks, which were released Wednesday, Comey said he told President Donald Trump that he was not under investigation and that Trump asked him for his "loyalty."

The UK votes. The final polls showed Theresa May's Conservative Party as holding a lead of 4 to 13 percentage points over Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party. Exit polls will be published at 5 p.m. ET, and the winner will be clear by 11 p.m. ET.

The ECB meets. At Thursday's meeting, the European Central Bank is expected to maintain both its 2.3 trillion euro ($2.59 trillion) bond-buying program and its policy of subzero interests.

Europe's growth tops estimates. The euro area grew at a 0.6% clip in the first quarter, ahead of the advanced reading of 0.5%.

China's trade surplus widens. China's trade surplus widened to $40.81 billion in May as exports jumped by 8.7% year-over-year in US dollar terms and imports grew by 14.8%, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics.

Oil is clawing back some of Wednesday's losses. West Texas Intermediate crude oil trades up by 0.8% at $46.10 a barrel. The energy component fell by more than 4% on Wednesday after Energy Information Administration data showed US inventories swelled by 3.3 million barrels from the previous week, when traders were expecting a draw of 3.137 million barrels.

Orange juice has moved more than any other commodity in 2017. Orange juice futures have fallen by about 33% this year. On the flip side, lean hogs are atop the leaderboard with a 23% gain.

Traders are cranking up their bets against Snap. The put-to-call ratio in the stock has jumped to 1.7 to 1, the highest since March 17, which was the fifth day that Snap options were available to be traded.

Stock markets around the world are mostly higher. Hong Kong's Hang Seng (+0.3%) led the gains in Asia and Germany's DAX (+0.4%) is out front in Europe. The S&P 500 is set to open little changed near 2,432.

US economic data is light. Initial claims will cross the wires at 8:30 a.m. ET. The US 10-year yield is up 2 basis points at 2.20%.

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