Traders are again shifting their focus to Europe, where the ECB will provide its first interest rate decision since the U.K. voted to leave the EU. Much like the Bank of England, the central bank is likely to wait for post-Brexit data to be released before making any significant policy decisions, but may tweak its bond-buying program. In addition to Brexit issues, Mario Draghi is likely to field questions about the ECB's June TLTRO and Italy's troubled banking sector.

Economy

The yen has fallen to six-week lows against the dollar on reports of additional stimulus measures in Japan. According to Kyodo News, Prime Minister Abe's government is looking to inject a further ¥20T into the economy, almost double its previous plan, but BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda has ruled out the idea of using "helicopter money." The package could be ready by the central bank's policy meeting at the end of the month.

Turkey's President Erdogan declared a three-month state of emergency Wednesday night, allowing him to sidestep parliament in passing new laws against supporters of Friday's coup and "protect democratic values." The Istanbul stock index is down 9.5% so far this week, and the lira fell as far as 3.0769 vs. the greenback after Standard & Poor's downgraded Turkey's sovereign credit rating and lowered its outlook to "negative."

Reinforcing a pattern that has been evident since the June 23 referendum, Britain's Theresa May emphasized on Wednesday she would seek the closest possible economic ties with Germany post-Brexit, but Angela Merkel confirmed she wouldn't enter the negotiating game until the U.K. invokes Article 50. Why? Early discussions would give the British incentives to delay notification, put more chips on the U.K. side of the table and risk dragging out the exit talks indefinitely.

George Soros has detailed a seven-point plan which he believes could help Europe avoid a catastrophe. "If significant progress could be made on the refugee issue, it would make the other issues - from the continuing Greek debt crisis to the fallout from Brexit to the challenge posed by Russia - easier to tackle," he said. "The chances of success remain slim. But as long as there is a strategy that might succeed, all the people who want the EU to survive should rally behind it."

Fracker-in-chief? Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is considering nominating Continental Resources (NYSE:CLR) CEO Harold Hamm as energy secretary if elected to the White House on Nov. 8. Trump also spoke on the future of NATO. In his strongest remarks to date, he said the U.S. would only defend alliance members attacked by Russia after reviewing whether those nations "have fulfilled their obligations to us."

A group of hedge funds are suing Puerto Rico, saying the island violated its hard-won new debt-restructuring law before the ink from President Obama's pen was even dry. The law, which the president signed on June 30, puts the U.S. territory under the watch of a federal oversight board, but has a built-in lag of at least two months before it becomes operational.

Stocks

Looking to strengthen its core mining equipment unit, Japan's Komatsu (OTCPK:KMTUY) has agreed to buy Joy Global (NYSE:JOY) for $2.9B, amid a fight for market share with industry leader Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT). Under the terms of the agreement, Joy stakeholders will receive $28.30 in cash for each outstanding share of common stock held, representing a 20% premium to yesterday's closing price. JOY +20% premarket.

European movers: Helped by cost-control measures, Unilever (NYSE:UL) posted a profit rise and said it's ready for challenges ahead. Swatch (OTCPK:SWGAY) expects a recovery in the second half after net profit plunged 52% in H1. Roche (OTCQX:RHHBY) confirmed its outlook for 2016 and reported results that exceeded expectations. Driven by price and mix realization, SABMiller's (OTCPK:SBMRY) group net producer revenue grew 2% in Q1. Lufthansa (OTCQX:DLAKY) cut its full-year profit target, saying "terrorist attacks in Europe" weighed on its bookings. The fears also hit Easyjet (OTCQX:ESYJY), with shares under pressure after weak Q3 revenues.

Tesla Motors unveiled its Secret Master Plan Part 2 in a blog post overnight. Highlights include an all-in bet on autonomous driving, ride sharing initiatives, urban transport concepts, and new models including pickups and heavy-duty trucks which are already in early development. On the energy future of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), Musk hopes to link it all together, including Powerwall and SolarCity (NASDAQ:SCTY).

U.S. auto safety regulators are not abandoning efforts to speed the development of self-driving cars, despite a fatal accident involving Tesla's (TSLA) Autopilot. "No one incident will derail the DOT and NHTSA from its mission to improve safety on the roads," NHTSA chief Mark Rosekind declared. The agency is "bullish" on the potential of autonomous driving technology to "reduce the 94% of car crashes attributed to human error."

Singapore's central bank has vowed to take action against four institutions for failures in anti-money laundering controls, saying it seized $177M in assets linked to alleged fraud at Malaysian state fund 1MDB. Preliminary findings uncovered "instances of control failings” at UBS, Standard Chartered (OTCPK:SCBFF) and DBS Group (OTCPK:DBSDY), and Goldman Sachs' (NYSE:GS) work with the fund is also under the spotlight.

Selfie-fumblers rejoice: Corning (NYSE:GLW) just unveiled its newest version of Gorilla Glass, the chemically strengthened super glass that dozens of consumer electronics makers use in their devices. The new glass was formulated to improve drop performance from gadgets that fall onto rough surfaces from certain heights, and survives up to 80% of the time when dropped from 1.6 meters.

Bottoms up for MegaBrew... AB InBev (NYSE:BUD) and SABMiller (OTCPK:SBMRY) have received approval for their $107B merger from U.S. antitrust regulators after the companies agreed to unload beer assets and preserve competition from independent craft brewers. The DOJ approval comes with a number of stipulations and is notable after the regulatory authority derailed several recent mega-mergers over antitrust concerns.

From Pokemon onesies to Disney (NYSE:DIS) frocks, comic and film fans are getting their costumes primed for their annual pilgrimage to Comic-Con, which opens today in San Diego. The event has evolved in recent years into a showcase for Hollywood studios, which are clamoring for the attention of an army of nerds expected to exceed 130K. Virtual reality will also have a big presence: FX Networks (FOX, FOXA) is promoting American Horror Story with a VR experience and Warner Bros. (NYSE:TWX) has similar plans for Suicide Squad.

The way is clear for Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) to buy InterOil (NYSE:IOC) after Oil Search (OTCPK:OISHF) announced it was dropping out of the bidding. Oil Search and Total (NYSE:TOT) had jointly offered to buy IOC in May in a deal that valued the company at $2.2B, but Exxon topped the bid earlier this week with an all-stock offer of $2.5B.

A Brazilian state law to ban upstream tailings dams, the design responsible for Samarco's disaster in November, could be approved this year, Minas Gerais' environmental regulator told Reuters. Anderson Silva de Aguilar also said the iron ore mine, which is co-owned by Vale (NYSE:VALE) and BHP Billiton (NYSE:BHP), would not be resuming operations this year and may not in 2017 either.

Galenica has agreed to buy Relypsa (NASDAQ:RLYP) for $32 per share in cash, or about $1.53B. The acquisition gives the Swiss company's Vifor Pharma unit a U.S. commercial network and global rights to Relypsa's drug Veltassa, which was the first American medicine in 50 years to be approved for hyperkalemia. After the transaction, Galenica (OTC:GNHAY) plans to split into two separate listed companies. RLYP +56.7% premarket.

With a decision on their merger expected within days, Aetna (NYSE:AET) and Humana (NYSE:HUM) remain in discussions with the DOJ, trying to convince federal regulators that their $37B deal will be good for seniors in the Medicare Advantage market. The insurers have pitched divestitures, with contracts ready to be signed for assets in markets where their coverage overlaps, but so far, the DOJ has not been convinced by the offers.

Wednesday's Key Earnings

Abbott (NYSE:ABT) +2% after topping expectations.
American Express (NYSE:AXP) -0.9% AH on strength overseas.
eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) +6.9% AH on heavy sales gains.
Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) -1.6% after swinging to a loss.
Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) -3.4% AH hurt by restructuring costs.
Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) -1.3% AH maintaining its dividend.
Mattel (NASDAQ:MAT) +3.5% AH following Barbie improvements.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) +2.1% after beating estimates.
Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM) +1.8% AH improving production.
Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) +7.9% AH on strong chip shipments.
SAP (NYSE:SAP) +5.5% following an impressive quarter.

Today's Markets

In Asia, Japan +0.8% to 16810. Hong Kong +0.5% to 22000. China +0.4% to 3039. India -0.7% to 27711.
In Europe, at midday, London -0.3%. Paris -0.2%. Frankfurt flat.
Futures at 6:20, Dow -0.1%. S&P -0.1%. Nasdaq flat. Crude +0.3% to $45.87. Gold +0.1% to $1320.10.
Ten-year Treasury Yield +1 bps to 1.59%

Today's Economic Calendar

8:30 Initial Jobless Claims
8:30 Philly Fed Business Outlook
8:30 Chicago Fed National Activity Index
9:00 FHFA House Price Index
9:45 Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index
10:00 Existing Home Sales
10:00 Leading Indicators
10:30 EIA Natural Gas Inventory
4:30 PM Money Supply
4:30 PM Fed Balance Sheet