10 things you should know before the opening bell

Moneycontrol Bureau

The US stocks finished in positive territory, with the Dow logging a five-day win streak, but off their session highs after senate majority leader Harry Reid threw cold water on the ongoing "fiscal cliff" negotiations saying that it will be hard to reach a budget deal by Christmas, adding that democrats aren't going to make an offer on spending cuts for republican. The CBOE volatility index ended below 16.
“Until we hear something from the Republicans there is nothing to drafty, we can get things done quickly, I think it is extremely difficult to get it done before Christmas but it could be done,” Harry Reid, Senate Majority Leader told the House.
On economic data front, the US trade deficit widened in October as exports suffered the biggest drop in nearly four years. The trade gap increased 4.9 percent to USD 42.2 billion even as imports declined to the lowest level in one and a half years.
And in key data to watch out for in the US today, export prices are expected to rise 0.3 percent while, import prices may slip to minus 0.4 percent. But all eyes on the Federal Reserve as they set to unveil their last decision of the year.
European shares closed higher on Tuesday after a survey showed a sharp improvement in German investor and analyst sentiment. The optimism around Greece continues to build.
Italy's former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi launched his election campaign policies in his words saying that is the reason Rome is in recession. He also dismissed the drop in bond yields on news of his return saying the spread between Italian bonds and German's bonds is a “scam”.
Meanwhile, German chancellor Angela Merkel repeated her endorsement of Mario Monti's policies saying they had helped put Italy back on the growth path. “I support the reforms of Mario Monti's government which have led to financial investors regaining some confidence in Italy so I am sure the Italian people will vote in such a way that Italy stays on the right path,” she said.
ECB chief Mario Draghi is expected to appear before the country's parliament early next year. Reuters reports that Draghi may discuss plans of including a bond buying program for Spain as part of plans to resolve the Eurozone crisis.
In the currency space, the dollar under pressure, the euro rises back to 1.30 ahead of the Fed meeting. The Fed is expected to replace its expiring 'Operation Twist' programme with a fresh round of outright treasury purchases.
In commodities, Brent crude rise to USD 108 levels as Opec production declines and a weaker dollar lent support to oil ahead of Opec's policy meeting this week.
Retaining India’s sovereign rating at the lowest investment grade, global agency S&P has warned that a downgrade is likely for the country if its political climate worsens and pace of fiscal reforms slows down. S&P is assigning one in three chance of a downgrade to the investment grade over the next two years. It expects only modest reforms in government's finances as well as in the public sector due to the general elections due in mid-2014. S&P says that the fiscal deficit target of 4.5 percent of GDP for 2014 may be beyond its reach adding the "bloated" fiscal deficit and the heavy debt burden are the most significant rating constraints.