Thursday 30 June 2016 1:54 pm

Before the bell: What you need to know before the US market open

The Fed's stress tests were failed by two European banks further buffeting stocks hit by the Brexit vote, while Wall Street lenders have announced share-buyback plans.

Here's what you need to know before the US market open at 2:30pm London time.

Futures are pointing down ahead of the open, with the S&P off by 0.16 per cent, the Nasdaq 0.2 per cent lower, and the Dow 0.1 per cent down. The US 10-year yield is higher by two basis points at 1.53 per cent.

Banks are feeling stressed out…

Deutsche Bank and Santander both failed the US Federal Reserve's stress tests in another blow to the global banking sector.

They were the only two of the 33 banks studied by the Fed to fail the test, although Morgan Stanley was asked to present a new business plan by the end of the year or risk falling short in the next round of analysis.

The Fed said Deutsche and Santander needed to rethink their capital plans because of:

Broad and substantial weaknesses across their capital planning processes, and insufficient progress these firms have made toward correcting those weaknesses and meeting supervisory expectations.

Both of the banks failed the test last year.

The Brexit bandwagon rolls on…

Meanwhile, the aftermath of the UK's vote to quit the European Union is still sending shockwaves through the business and political world.

Bookies' favourite former London mayor Boris Johnson has said he will not stand for the role of Conservative party leader and prime minister, while HSBC has this morning reiterated its stance that the Brexit vote will not mean another HQ review.

Stocks to watch

Health insurance giant Anthem's planned takeover of Cigna is looking shakey after falling foul of antitrust authorities.

The Department of Justice said the deal would threaten competition and is concerned large employers would have reduced options for finding insurers, it was reported by Bloomberg.

Wall Street banks have announced stock-buyback plans, with JP Morgan set to buy back $10.6bn in shares, while Citi and Bank of America will repurchase $8.6bn and $5bn respectively.

Goldman Sachs will repurchase an undisclosed amount.

Companies reporting today

Packaged foods ConAgra, booze producer Constellation Brands, and Olive Garden parent Darden Restaurants will all be posting updates before the open. After the close we'll hear from tech firm Micron, with its latest quarterly results.