Trade talks; Uber IPO pricing; More SALT
London(CNN Business) 1. Trade tensions: Global stock markets fell Thursday as the United States and China dug in their heels on trade.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng sank 2.4% and Japan's Nikkei dropped around 1%. The Shanghai Composite fell 1.5%, pushing its losses for the week to 7%.
France's CAC 40 was the biggest major market loser in Europe, shedding 1.3% in early trade.
US stock futures were lower. Dow futures were down 0.8%, or roughly 200 points. Nasdaq futures declined 1%, while S&P 500 futures dropped 0.8%.
Investors will pay close attention to the latest round of trade talks between the economic superpowers. China's top trade negotiator, Liu He, arrives in Washington on Thursday for two days of negotiations.
Recent events suggest the talks are likely to be contentious. President Donald Trump on Wednesday said that he will hike tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods from Friday because China "broke the deal."
Beijing said it would retaliate if the Untied States moves ahead with the hikes.
The talks follow a wild ride for markets on Wednesday. The Dow ultimately rose 3 points, snapping its two-day losing streak. But the S&P 500 finished down 0.2%, and the Nasdaq fell 0.3%.
2. Uber IPO: Uber will price its shares after US markets close on Thursday. It's the final step before the company's highly anticipated Wall Street debut on Friday.
The tech company is expected to price shares in the middle of its range, set between $44 and $50 per share, or even below, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Uber has a tough set of factors to consider when it comes to pricing. Market volatility has shot up, while shares in its competitor Lyft have declined following an IPO in late March.
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3. More SALT: SkyBridge Capital's global investment conference continues Thursday in Las Vegas.
Thousands of top investors, corporate executives, politicians, economists, policymakers and journalists attend the event each year.
Speakers on Thursday include Ben Horowitz, co-founder of VC firm Andreessen Horowitz, former Dow Chemical CEO Andrew Liveris and Nadhmi Al-Nasr, the head of Saudi Arabia's "mega city" project, NEOM.
CNN Business will have live coverage from the event.
4. Companies: Earnings season marches on. Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH), Overstock (OSTK) and Party City (PRTY) plan to release earnings results before the US market open.
Dropbox (DBX), Equifax (EFX), GoPro (GPRO), News Corp. (NWSA), TiVo (TIVO), Yelp (YELP) and Zillow (ZG) will release earnings after the close.
Disney (DIS) shares are set to rise slightly after it announced earnings that beat expectations after markets closed Wednesday. Revenue rose to $14.9 billion, a 3% increase compared to a year earlier.
The company's parks, experiences, products division led the way with $6.2 billion in revenue.
Edgewell Personal Care, the company that owns razor brand Schick, will announce Thursday that it's buying shaving startup Harry's for about $1.37 billion, according to the New York Times.
5. Coming this week:
Thursday — SALT conference; China consumer price inflation; US jobless claims and trade data for March; Ford (F) annual meeting
Friday — US consumer price inflation; UK GDP; Marriott (MAR) earnings
