Stocks: 4 things to know before the open

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Uncertainty about the future of Greece is putting strain on Wall Street.

U.S. stock futures are looking soft and European markets are mostly trading lower.

Here are the four things you need to know before the opening bell rings in New York:

1. Greek tragedy?: European finance officials will hold emergency talks in Brussels at 11:30 a.m. ET in an attempt to map out the future of Greece's bailout program.

Greece is looking to secure a bridge loan for a few months, giving it time to hammer out a replacement to the existing bailout program which expires on February 28. The country's newly elected government wants to reverse a string of economic reforms in defiance of the terms set by its international lenders.

But its lenders in Europe -- which have collectively given Greece about €240 billion ($272 billion) over the past five years -- want Greece to stick to the terms of its bailout. A new debt crisis could end up pushing Greece out of the eurozone.

Kit Juckes, a market strategist at Societe Generale, says investors expect a deal will be hashed out.

"Markets are priced for some kind of stop-gap deal which allows the European Central Bank to continue financing Greek banks and lets talks continue," he said.

Greece's main stock market index is declining by about 3%.

Related: Fear & Greed Index

2. Ukraine talks continue: World leaders are also trying to agree on how to stop the bloodshed and violence in Eastern Ukraine.

President Obama spoke on the phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin last night to discuss the situation. Putin is flying to Minsk Wednesday to speak with political leaders about a new peace deal.

Western nations have accused Russia of contributing to the violence and separatist tensions in Eastern Ukraine, and have responded by issuing harsh sanctions against Russia. More sanctions against Russia could come into force next week.

3. Corporate earnings and updates: PepsiCo (PEP), Mondelez (MDLZ) and Time Warner (TWC), which owns CNN, are reporting quarterly earnings before the opening bell.

Cisco (CSCO), Tesla Motors (TSLA) and Whole Foods (WFM) will report after the close.

Shares in ARM Holdings (ARMH) are rising by 4% in London after the tech company reported its latest set of quarterly results. The company designs the chips that are used in the vast majority of smartphones around the world.

Shares in Sky (SKY P) are falling by about 3% as investors react to news that the company is paying £4.2 billion ($6.4 billion) to air English Premier League soccer over the next three years. Investors think the company is overpaying -- the price is 83% more than Sky's current contract.

Sky is partially owned by Rupert Murdoch through 21st Century Fox (FOX).

Shares in BT (BT), which bought the rights to a smaller number of EPL games, rose by 3%. It is paying much less than Sky per game.

Related: Have an investing question? Ask CNNMoney!

4. Tuesday market recap: The Dow Jones industrial average gained 140 points, while the S&P 500 rose 1.1% and the Nasdaq moved up by 1.3%.

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