10 things you need to know before the opening bell (spy, spx, qqq, dia, aig, rgr)

Reuters/Wolfgang Rattay

Here is what you need to know.

China's services sector is slowing. The largest segment of China's economy is growing, albeit at a slower pace, according to the latest Caxin-Markit services purchasing managers’ index. July's reading of 51.7 was down from June's 52.7, and was the weakest since July 2014.

China's state planner says the PBOC should ease at the "appropriate time." Rare comments from the National Development and Reform Commission suggested Beijing should cut interest rates and ease bank requirements at the "appropriate time" in an effort to kick start the economy, Reuters reports. The People's Bank of China has not moved rates since October.

Britain's services sector got crushed by Brexit. PMI data released by Markit and the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply showed Britain's services sector posted its sharpest drop on record in the wake of the UK's decision for a Brexit. The July reading tumbled to 47.4 from June's 52.3. The British pound is unchanged at 1.3358.

But Europe is seeing little effect. The eurozone is seeing "little overall contagion" from the UK's decision to leave the European Union, according to the Markit's final composite PMI figure for July. The reading came in at 52.9, which marked a minor improvement from June's 52.7. The euro is down 0.2% at 1.1199.

There was a massive Bitcoin heist. More than $65 million worth of Bitcoin was stolen from BitFinex, a digital currency exchange in Hong Kong. "We are investigating the breach to determine what happened, but we know that some of our users have had their bitcoins stolen," the exchange said in a blog post. Bitcoin has traded down as much as 20% on the news to $480.

Sturm, Ruger & Co. says gun sales are surging. The gun maker earned an adjusted $1.22 per share on revenue of $167.9 million. The company says sales surged 26% during the quarter, coinciding with a spike in background checks.

AIG is buying back more stock. The commercial insurer earned $0.98 per share on revenue of $14.7 billion. AIG's board of directors authorized the buyback of up to an additional $3 billion worth of stock.

Stock markets around the world are mostly lower. France's CAC (-0.3%) trails in Europe after Japan's Nikkei (-1.9%) lagged in Asia. S&P 500 futures are lower by 3.50 points at 2,149.25.

Earnings reporting remains heavy. Office Depot and Time Warner are among the names reporting ahead of the opening bell while Herbalife, MetLife, and Tesla Motors highlight the names releasing their quarterly results after markets close.

US economic data flows. ADP Employment Change will cross the wires at 8:15 a.m. ET before Markit US Services PMI and ISM non-manufacturing are released at 9:45 a.m. and 10 a.m. ET. US crude oil inventories are due out at 10:30 a.m. ET. The US 10-year yield is down two basis points at 1.54%.

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