Economy
Activity in China's factory sector slipped to an 11-month low in March as new orders crumbled, a private survey showed. HSBC's flash China manufacturing index dipped to 49.2, from 50.7 in February, while the new orders sub-index fell for the second straight month to 49.3. The poor readings will likely fuel calls for more stimulus measures as persistent weakness plagues the world's second-largest economy despite two recent rate cuts and other easing.

It would be desirable for the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank to work with the Asian Development Bank, said Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso today, although he expressed concern over the differences in their rules and procedures. Aso last week gave cautious approval of the institution that Washington has warned against, but said Japan was not ready to decide to join the Beijing-based bank by the March 31 deadline. At least 35 countries are planning to become members by the end of the month.

European shares are taking off after new data showed business activity in the eurozone hitting a 46-month high in March. Markit's flash euro zone composite PMI data came in at 54.1, up from 53.3 last month, indicating that pickup in the region's activity is likely to be sustained. The data is also sending the euro higher, up 0.4% at $1.0983.

"I think that by mid-year it will be the time to have a discussion about starting to raise rates," said San Francisco Fed President John Williams in Sydney, altering the phrase from "serious discussion" that he used in a March 5 address in Honolulu. Fed Chair Janet Yellen and her colleagues last week opened the door to an interest-rate increase as soon as June, but indicated in their forecasts they’ll go slow once they start. Williams, who votes on policy this year, also lowered his U.S. real GDP growth estimate to about 2.5% in 2015 from just under 3%.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department is scheduled to issue Consumer Price Index figures this morning, which are expected to show the 12-month gain in core CPI holding at 1.6%, and the index rising 0.2% in February, after falling 0.7% the previous month; Commerce Department data later today on new home sales is seen slipping to 462M units in February from 481M in January.

Oil prices dropped again this morning following an overnight report which showed Saudi production close to an all-time high and data that showed China's factory sector falling to an 11-month low. Saudi Arabia is now pumping around 10M barrels of crude oil per day, about 350,000 bpd above the figure the Kingdom gave to OPEC for its February output. Crude futures have since then recovered and are now trading up 1.4% at $48.13/bbl.

Marking the first of several anticipated legal challenges, a U.S. trade group representing broadband providers said it has filed a court challenge against the FCC's recently approved net neutrality rules. "We do not believe the FCC's move to utility-style regulation invoking Title II authority is legally sustainable. Therefore, we are filing a petition," said U.S. Telecom President Walter McCormick. Industry groups are also expected to challenge the new rules, although the rush of lawsuits likely won't come until after the rules are published in the Federal Register.

Stocks
Whiting Petroleum says it will sell 35M shares of common stock to help pare debt from its December buyout of rival Kodiak Oil & Gas and give it breathing room to weather the low oil-price environment. The offering, as well as a $1.75B debt issuance, may signal the company is not seeking to sell itself outright, as the cost of an acquisition would rise dramatically. WLL -12.5% premarket.

The Federal Reserve and FDIC have vetoed the "living wills" of the U.S. units of BNP Paribas (OTCPK:BNPQF), HSBC (NYSE:HSBC) and Royal Bank of Scotland (NYSE:RBS), stating that they could face sanctions by the end of the year if the issues are not fixed. Living wills, which are a requirement under Dodd-Frank, spell out how a firm would wind down its operations under U.S. bankruptcy code if it got into trouble.

Nasdaq OMX has agreed to provide New York-based startup Noble Markets with its X-stream trading system (used by more than 30 exchanges and marketplaces worldwide) to power a marketplace for trading Bitcoins (COIN, OTCQB:BTCS) and related digital-currency assets, WSJ reports. Nasdaq's (NASDAQ:NDAQ) agreement follows other Wall Street initiatives that could pave the way for financial institutions to own and trade digital currencies, including the NYSE's recent investment in Bitcoin exchange Coinbase.

While setting its annual meeting for May 7, Verizon (NYSE:VZ) revealed in its proxy statement that CEO Lowell McAdam got total compensation of $18.3M in 2014, up almost 16% from 2013. His base pay rose to $1.6M, up almost 7%. Other salaries: CFO Francis Shammo's total compensation rose 9% to $6.5M (base pay +7%), while EVP Daniel Mead's total compensation rose 7% to $7.7M (with base pay also +7%).

eBay, which is spinning off its PayPal division later this year, plans to pay each of the two new companies' chief executive officers $14M in total compensation after the split. Dan Schulman, who joined the company from American Express, will be CEO of PayPal, while Devin Wenig, who is now president of the Marketplaces division, will become CEO of eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY). They will both get an annual salary of $1M post-breakup, plus cash bonuses and equity awards of as much as $13M.

Chesapeake Energy +2.4% premarket after Carl Icahn disclosed an increased stake in the company. Icahn's holdings now stand at 73M shares (10.98%), up from 66M shares (9.98%) in December. Chesapeake Energy (NYSE:CHK) also lowered its 2015 capital spending outlook by $500M after the bell yesterday, citing weak commodity prices.

The long road to Hutchison Whampoa's £10.5B ($15.7B) purchase of British wireless firm O2 (NYSE:TEF) is close to its end, and a deal could be announced this morning, FT reports. A merger of O2 with Hutchison's (OTCPK:HUWHY) Three will turn the U.K. mobile market into a three-party race, divided between the new entity, Vodafone (NASDAQ:VOD) and leader EE (NYSE:BT). It'll also draw regulatory attention, but similar European deals have been approved in other countries.

Amazon's Twitch unit has announced that its website for streaming videogame play was likely hacked, and users' account and personal information may have been compromised. As a result of the breach, the company said it expired passwords and stream keys, and disconnected accounts from Twitter and YouTube. Twitch, which has about 100M viewers on average per month, was bought by Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) last year for $970M.

Opening up a new door for the sports-media industry, the NFL has announced it would test placing one football game this season on a national digital platform and not on national television, as a trial effort to understand the market for digital rights. In another sweeping change, the league has decided to scrap its controversial blackout rule, which prohibits local broadcasts of games if they aren't sold out 72 hours before kickoff, for the 2015 season. Related tickers: CBS, FOXA, CMCSA, DIS, DTV.

Today's Markets:

In Asia, Japan -0.2% to 19713. Hong Kong -0.4% to 24400. China +0.1% to 3691. India -0.1% to 28162.
In Europe, at midday, London +0.4%. Paris +0.7%. Frankfurt +0.5%.
Futures at 6:20: Dow +0.3%. S&P +0.3%. Nasdaq +0.3%. Crude +1.4% to $48.13. Gold +0.2% to $1190.60.
Ten-year Treasury Yield -1 bps to 1.91%

Today's economic calendar:

8:30 Consumer Price Index
8:55 Redbook Chain Store Sales
9:00 FHFA House Price Index
9:45 PMI Manufacturing Index Flash
10:00 New Home Sales
10:00 Richmond Fed Mfg.
1:00 PM Results of $26B, 2-Year Note Auction

Notable earnings before today's open: GIII, HDS, IHS, MKC

Notable earnings after today's close: CBK, SCS, SONC, TRQ