Here are 10 things you should know for Thursday, July 10:
1. -- U.S. stock futures were pointing lower Thursday after equities got a lift during the previous session from the Federal Reserve meeting minutes.
European stocks declined on weaker-than-expected French consumer price data, disappointing industrial output figures for both France and Italy, and troubles at Portugal's largest listed bank.
Stocks close mostly higher in Asia but Japan's Nikkei 225 slipped 0.6%
2. -- The economic calendar in the U.S. on Thursday includes weekly initial jobless claims at 8:30 a.m. EDT, and wholesale inventories for May at 10 a.m.
3. -- U.S. stocks gained ground after the release of the much-watched minutes of the Federal Reserve's chief policy-making committee showed that the central bank is preparing to end its historic program of monetary easing as soon as October.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.5% to close at 16,985.61 while the S&P 500 similarly gained 0.5% to end the regular trading day at 1,972.83. The Nasdaq rose 0.6% to 4,419.03.
4. -- Allergan (AGN) CEO David Pyott is looking at potential sizable acquisitions at the urging of his shareholders, he told The Wall Street Journal, as he seeks to fight off a $53 billion hostile offer from Valeant Pharmaceuticals (VRX) and activist investor William Ackman.
Pyott, in an interview with the Journal, said he was always looking at potential targets and pointed to an estimated $14 billion in future free-cash flow and Allergan's ability to easily raise large amounts of debt as giving him the firepower for a deal.
