Investing.com - Here are the top five things you need to know this morning, Wednesday, October 21:
1. Global markets mixed with earnings, China in focus
Asian equities were mixed, with China's Shanghai Composite posting its worst one-day performance in five weeks. On the other hand, Japan's blue-chip Nikkei 225 jumped nearly 2% to six-week highs.
In Europe, equity markets swung between small gains and losses as investors became cautious ahead of the European Central Bank's policy meeting and as markets focused on a fresh batch of corporate earnings reports.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock futures pointed to modest gains at the open on Wednesday as traders awaited a flurry of corporate earnings results from heavyweights like General Motors and Boeing.
2. U.S. corporate earnings season picks up pace
With no major economic data on the calendar this session, third-quarter earnings season remained in focus.
Boeing Company (N:BA), General Motors Company (N:GM), Coca-Cola Company (N:KO), Kimberly-Clark (N:KMB) and Baker Hughes (N:BHI) are due to report quarterly earnings ahead of the opening bell.
And after the market closes, eBay Inc (O:EBAY), Texas Instruments (O:TXN) and American Express (N:AXP) are on the earnings docket.
3. Ferrari races onto the New York stock exchange
Luxury carmaker Ferrari (N:RACE) begins trading on the New York Stock Exchange Wednesday after its initial public offering was priced at $52, the top of the range, giving it a $9.8 billion valuation. Ferrari's ticker on the NYSE will be RACE.
4. Oil futures drop ahead of weekly inventory data
Oil declined on Wednesday, amid speculation weekly supply data due later in the session will show U.S. crude inventories rose at a faster pace than expected last week.
U.S. crude was last down 1.3% at $45.69 a barrel while Brent fell 0.3% to $48.57 a barrel.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration was to release its weekly report on oil supplies at 10:30AM Eastern Time. The data was expected to show that crude stockpiles rose by 3.9 million barrels last week to 472.5 million.
5. Bank of Canada policy meeting
The Bank of Canada's latest interest rate decision is due at 10:00AM ET, on Wednesday. BOC Governor Stephen Poloz is widely expected to keep rates unchanged at 0.50%, in light of recently upbeat data after already cutting twice this year.