Here’s what you need to know before the markets open.

1.The UK economy shrank 5.8% in March, the fastest drop in history – and it’s only going to get worse. The UK’s economy shrank at the fastest pace since the global financial crisis in the first quarter of 2020, according to data released Wednesday by the country’s statistics authority.

2. ‘Time to reinvent yourself, Warren’: Buffett won’t find bargains with the Fed shoring up prices, investor says.Warren Buffett needs to shift his investing strategy because hunting for bargains isn’t working, investor David Merkel argued on The Aleph Blog this week.

3. Trump’s blame game with China on the origins of COVID-19 could spark a major ‘currency war,’ analysts warn. Escalating tensions between US and China on who is responsible for the outbreak of COVID-19 will not just push the Chinese yuan lower, but could also spark a major devaluation across numerous major currencies, analysts warn.

4.Qatar Airways is in talks todefer="defer"Airbus, Boeing orders Qatar Airways, one of the Middle East's biggest airlines, is in talks with Airbus and Boeing todefer="defer"aircraft orders for several years, its chief executive was quoted as saying on Wednesday.

5. Futures rise ahead of Fed Chair Powell's address. US stock index futures edged higher on Wednesday, a day after Wall Street's main indexes fell, as investors kept an eye out for Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's address.

6. Emirates plans scheduled flights from May 21 to nine cities. Emirates Airline from May 21 plans to operate scheduled flight services from Dubai to London Heathrow, Frankfurt, Paris, Milan, Madrid, Chicago, Toronto, Sydney and Melbourne, it said in a statement on Wednesday.

7. Fed's Powell to assess next phase of pandemic economy. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, having overseen the rapid creation of the central bank's massive network of pandemic-era programs, turns his attention Wednesday morning to where things stand on the cusp of what may be a risky reopening occurring disparately across the 50 U.S. states.

8. Stocks are mixed. In Asia, the Hang Seng index was down 0.3%, the Nikkei 225 fell 0.5% and the Shanghai Composite was up 0.2%. In Europe, the Eurostoxx 50 is down 1.4%, the DAX is down 1.5% and the FTSE 100 is down 1%. In the US, futures underlying the S&P 500 is pointing to an increase of 0.34%, the Dow 30 is pointing to an increase of 0.4% and the Nasdaq 100 is pointing to an increase of 0.64%.

9. First-quarter earnings coming in. Sony and Cisco are highlights.

10. Economic data releases today. US EIA Crude Oil stocks change and Fed Chair Powell's speech are among the key market events Wednesday.