May 19 Premarket Briefing: 10 Things You Should Know

1. U.S. stock futures were lower Thursday and European stocks fell as minutes from the Federal Reserve's April meeting appeared to increase the chances of a rate hike in June.

2. The economic calendar in the U.S. Thursday includes weekly Initial Jobless Claims at 8:30 a.m. EDT, the Philadelphia Fed Index for May at 8:30 a.m., and Leading Indicators for April at 10 a.m.

3. U.S. stocks on Wednesday finished mixed as the Fed turned unexpectedly hawkish last month.

The minutes from the Fed's meeting in April, released on Wednesday, suggested many members would be comfortable raising rates as soon as June, more quickly than even the most hawkish of economists' forecasts.

The S&P 500 rose 0.02%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.03%, and the Nasdaq gained 0.5%. Benchmark indexes had been in the green before the release of the minutes.

4. Monsanto (MON) confirmed it received a takeover proposal from German chemicals and pharmaceuticals company Bayer (BAYRY) as the global seeds giant turns from bidder to target.

Monsanto, which last year tried and failed to engineer a $40 billion-plus takeover of Switzerland's Syngenta, said it has "received an unsolicited, non-binding proposal" from Bayer.

Monsanto shares were 8.4% in premarket trading on Thursday to $105.30.

5. Cisco Systems (CSCO) provided a bright spot in a dull earnings season for IT companies, reporting fiscal third-quarter earnings on Wednesday that topped Wall Street forecasts.

Cisco earned 57 cents a share on $12 billion in revenue during the quarter. Analysts were looking for profit of 55 cents a share on sales of $11.97 billion.

"We continue to execute well in an obviously very tough environment," CEO Chuck Robbins told investors during an earnings call.

The stock was rising 5% in premarket trading to $28.05.

6. Oilfield services companies FMC Technologies (FTI) and Technip (TKPPY) on Thursday said they would merge to create a company with an equity value of $13 billion.

The partners, whose sector has suffered as oil producers have curbed spending, said the two sets of shareholders will receive stock in a new company, TechnipFMC, at a ratio of one Technip share for two for investors in the French company and 1:1 for owners of Houston-based FMC. The resultant ownership split will be 50:50, according to a memorandum of understanding the two companies signed.

7. Electric carmaker Tesla (TSLA) is selling about $1.4 billion worth of stock to help bring its lower-cost Model 3 to market.

Tesla offered 6.8 million shares on Wednesday.

Analysts had expected the move after the company announced this month it wants to produce 500,000 cars per year in 2018, two years earlier than planned.

8. Salesforce.com (CRM) reported fiscal first-quarter earnings and revenue that beat analysts' forecasts.

The cloud computing company on Wednesday reported adjusted earnings of 24 cents a share, a penny above forecasts.

Revenue increased 27% year over year to $1.92 billion in the most recent quarter, above analysts' estimates of $1.89 billion.

Salesforce.com said it expects adjusted earnings of between 24 cents and 25 cents a share during the second quarter, while revenue will range between $2.005 billion and $2.015 billion. Analysts forecast earnings of 25 cents a share on revenue of $1.98 billion.

9. Apple (AAPL) plans to set up an office in southern India to develop the Maps feature for its products, the company said Thursday in its second such announcement since CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country.

A statement said the venture would be located in the technology hub of Hyderabad and will create about 4,000 jobs.

On Wednesday., the tech giant announced that it would set up an app design and development center in the city of Bangalore. That venture is expected to be in place by early 2017, but the expected opening date of the Hyderabad office wasn't disclosed.

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10. Earnings are expected Thursday from Walmart Stores (WMT) , Dick's Sporting Goods (DKS) , Gap (GPS) and Ross Stores (ROST) .