5 Things You Should Know Before the Stock Market Opens

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- U.S. stock futures were pointing to a lower start for Wall Street Wednesday as eurozone concerns outweighed the possibility of more monetary stimulus from the Federal Reserve.

European stocks were mixed while Asian shares finished mostly higher. Japan's Nikkei 225 index gained 0.6% Wednesday to close at 8,587.84.

U.S. stocks on Tuesday closed higher after Charles Evans, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, was quoted as saying he's in favor of "pretty much any accommodative policy."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 163 points, or 1.31%, at 12,574.

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The economic calendar in the U.S. on Wednesday includes retail sales for May at 8:30 a.m. EDT; the producer price index for May at 8:30 a.m.; business inventories for April at 10 a.m.; and weekly crude inventories data at 10:30 a.m. ET.

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JPMorgan Chase (JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon is scheduled Wednesday to testify before the Senate's Banking Committee about the $2 billion trading loss the bank incurred from credit derivative hedging within its synthetic portfolio.

The hearing, which carries the title A Breakdown in Risk Management: What Went Wrong at JPMorgan Chase?, is to run from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Reports said Dimon is expected to argue that the loss should be viewed as an isolated event."

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Dell (DELL), the PC maker, announced plans on Tuesday to start paying dividends. The annual dividend is 32 cents a share. Dell will make its first quarterly payment of 8 cents a share in the third quarter.

Based on Dell's Monday closing price of $11.86, the dividend yield would be 2.7%.

Dell is holding its annual analyst meeting on Wednesday.

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Verizon Wireless (VZ),, the nation's No. 1 cellphone company, is dropping nearly all of its phone plans in favor of pricing schemes that allow consumers to share data usage among up to 10 phones and other devices.

The new plans will let individuals add non-phone devices like tablets and laptops to their plans, as well as the phones of family members.

The change takes effect June 28.

-- Written by Joseph Woelfel



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