Reuters - Before the Bell

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Tuesday, December 12, 2017

Futures flat with all eyes on Fed meet; Brent tops $65

(Reuters) - U.S. stocks were set to open flat on Tuesday ahead of a two-day meeting of the Federal Reserve that is widely expected to bump up the benchmark interest rate for the third time in a year as it continues to unwind its post-crisis stimulus.

Comcast drops bid for Fox assets, leaving Disney in pole position

(Reuters) - Comcast Corp said on Monday it had abandoned its bid for most of the assets of Rupert Murdoch’s Twenty-First Century Fox Inc, leaving Walt Disney Co as the sole suitor in pursuit of the $40 billion-plus deal.

German watchdog orders recall of 57,600 VW Touareg SUVs

HAMBURG (Reuters) - Germany's KBA automotive watchdog said it has ordered Volkswagen to recall 57,600 diesel models of its Touareg sport-utility vehicle (SUV) after detecting two illicit emission-control devices in tests.

PepsiCo makes biggest public pre-order of Tesla Semis: 100 trucks

SEATTLE (Reuters) - PepsiCo Inc has reserved 100 of Tesla Inc's new electric Semi trucks, the largest-known order of the big rig, as the maker of Mountain Dew soda and Doritos chips seeks to reduce fuel costs and fleet emissions, a company executive said on Tuesday.

Trump's push to cut federal jobs has modest impact, mostly in defense

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's campaign to shrink the "bloated federal bureaucracy" so far has made a small dent in the federal workforce, and that largely because of a decline in civilian defense jobs.

India's markets regulator probes prescient messages in WhatsApp groups

MUMBAI (Reuters) - India's market regulator is "seriously" looking into the issue of prescient messages on company results circulated by market insiders in private WhatsApp groups, its chairman said on Tuesday, a sign the investigation is gaining momentum.

U.S. transit agencies cautious on electric buses despite bold forecasts

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Communities across the United States are looking to replace their dirty diesel buses, ushering in what some analysts predict will be a boom in electric fleets.

Oil tops $65, first time since 2015, on UK pipeline outage

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil rose above $65 a barrel for the first time since mid-2015 on Tuesday after a shutdown of the UK's biggest North Sea oil pipeline, which helps set the benchmark for global prices.

Sanofi investors hungry for drug progress and deal news

PARIS (Reuters) - Sanofi still needs to convince markets it can deliver on an exciting and sustainable growth path as it contends with fresh difficulties in its vaccines arm and looks set for another gloomy year in diabetes, investors told Reuters.

German pilots union steps up pressure on Ryanair with strike call

BERLIN (Reuters) - German pilots' union Vereinigung Cockpit said strike action at Ryanair was possible in Germany, as of now, as staff join pilots in other countries in pushing for better conditions at the Irish budget carrier.