Investing.com - Here are the top five things you need to know today in financial markets:
1. Oil continues to struggle near 7-year lows
Oil prices swung between gains and losses on Thursday, holding near seven-year lows amid uncertainty about how quickly the global glut of crude is set to shrink. U.S. crude was last down 4 cents, or 0.1%, at $37.12 a barrel as of 6:00AM ET, while Brent tacked on 11 cents, or 0.29%, to $40.22.
2. Swiss central bank keeps interest rates unchanged
The Swiss National Bank left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at -0.75% at the conclusion of its policy meeting on Thursday. The central bank also left the target range for the three-month Libor unchanged at between -1.25% and -0.25%.
"Despite depreciating somewhat in recent months, the franc is still significantly overvalued," the central bank said in a statement.
3. Bank of England Super Thursday
The Bank of England will release its rate decision and minutes of its Monetary Policy Committee meeting at 12:00PM London time, or 7:00AM ET, on Thursday. No policy change in expected.
Last month, the Monetary Policy Committee voted 8-1 to keep rates on hold at a record low 0.5%. Most market players expect the BOE to begin slowly raising interest rates in mid-2016.
4. U.S. jobless claims report due ahead of the bell
Investors looked ahead to key U.S. data later in the day for further indications on the strength of the economy. The U.S. is to release a weekly report on initial jobless claims at 8:30AM ET Thursday, as well as data on import prices.
Market players also started looking ahead to the Federal Reserve's upcoming policy meeting on December 15-16. The likelihood of a December rate hike stands at 87%, according to Fed funds futures data from the CME Group (O:CME).
5. Glencore deepens spending cuts, ups debt reduction target
Mining giant Glencore announced wider spending cuts on Thursday, as the battered commodities group races to cut debt and shore up its balance sheet. The Swiss-based company said it now targets net debt of $18 billion to $19 billion by the end of 2016, from a previous target of $20 billion.
The company's London-listed shares (L:GLEN) were up more than 11% after it announced its cost-cutting plans.
The world’s biggest mining companies are reeling from the deepening rout in commodities prices this year. Glencore's move follows similar action from Anglo American (L:AAL) and Freeport-McMoran (N:FCX), which both announced spending cuts earlier this week.