10 things you need to know before European markets open

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REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco

Good morning! Here's what you need to know.

Oil is up. Crude oil prices rose to a 15-month high on Wednesday after a surprise US inventory drawdown, boosting energy shares. US crude was up 2.2% at $51.39 a barrel and Brent last traded at $52.48, up 1.6% on the day.

Brazil is in the midst of another political crisis. Brazilian police arrested Eduardo Cunha who was one of the country's most powerful lawmakers and the architect of former president Dilma Rousseff's impeachment until engulfed in corruption charges.

The UK is still dithering over airport expansion plans. The government has not yet made a decision about where to allow airport expansion in southeast England but will do so this month, Prime Minister Theresa May said.

The EU's trade deal with the US is in doubt. The European Commission believes it is unlikely that negotiations with the United States over a free trade deal will be successful, a Commission source told Reuters.

Nissan will take over Mitsubishi. Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn will chair Mitsubishi Motors Corp after Japan's second-biggest automaker by sales buys control of its smaller peer.

Starbucks is expanding in China. The company named its first chief executive officer for China and said it plans to more than double its store count in that country to 5,000 by 2021.

Silvio is back. Center-right leader Silvio Berlusconi, who left Italy's political limelight after heart surgery, has returned to the fray this week trying to defeat Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's planned constitutional reform.

Morgan Stanley is doing well. The bank reported a better-than-expected profit on Wednesday, boosted by a surge in bond trading that helped all Wall Street banks last quarter.

Ericsson is looking for an outsider CEO. The struggling mobile networks giant could try to hire a chief executive with no track record in the telecoms industry after looking beyond the obvious candidates, a source told Reuters.

The US is mulling a rate rise. The US economy showed some signs of rising wage pressures in September, the Federal Reserve said, a further sign of the cloudy outlook facing Fed policymakers as they mull a rise in interest rates.

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