Investing.com - Here are the top five things you need to know in financial markets on Thursday, June 22:
1. Oil prices languish near 10-month low
Oil prices recovered slightly on Thursday morning, but held near their lowest level in around ten months amid lingering concerns over strong shale output growth in the U.S.
U.S. crude was at $42.78 a barrel in early New York trade, up 25 cents, or around 0.6%, after falling to its lowest since August 11 at $42.05 a day earlier.
Brent oil tacked on 40 cents to $45.22 a barrel. The global benchmark hit $44.35 on Wednesday, a level not seen since November 14.
Oil prices have been under pressure in recent weeks as concern over rising U.S. shale output offset production cuts by OPEC and non-OPEC members.
2. Global stocks stumble
Global stock markets stumbled on Thursday, as investors reacted to ongoing weakness in the oil market.
On Wall Street, the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures pointed to a drop of 8 points, or roughly 0.1%, at the open, the blue-chip Dow futures shed 28 points, or about 0.1%, while the S&P 500 futures ticked down 5 points, or around 0.2%.
In Europe, stocks fell in a broad decline, on track for a third straight session of losses, as the oil and gas sector struggled.
Earlier, Asian shares ended mixed.
3. GOP to release healthcare bill
Senate Republicans plan to release their version of healthcare reform legislation at 9:30AM ET (1330GMT), the first time the public will get to see what they have been working on behind closed doors.
The bill is expected to roll back the Obamacare expansion of the Medicaid healthcare program for the poor and reshape subsidies to low-income people buying private insurance.
The Congressional Budget Office is then expected to release its analysis of the bill early next week, with a Senate vote possible before the July 4 recess.
4. EU leaders gather to discuss Brexit, security
The first day of a two-day summit of European Union leaders kicks off in Brussels on Thursday.
At the summit, leaders are set to focus on two main objectives, strengthening the EU and protecting its citizens. Therefore key topics set to arise include terrorism, security, globalization and climate change.
British Prime Minister Theresa May is expected to make an appearance at the summit, where she is likely to inform other leaders of the U.K.'s intentions when it comes to exiting the political-economic bloc.
5. Ethereum flash crashes before recovering
The red-hot cryptocurrency Ethereum flash-crashed in overnight trade but has since recouped nearly all its losses.
The cryptocurrency crashed to as low as 10 cents from around $317 in a matter of seconds on the GDAX exchange, which is being blamed on a "multimillion dollar market sell" order.
Ethereum has since snapped back to around its pre-flash-crash level, trading down around 2% on the day. The digital currency is up about 3,600% so far in 2017.