Yesterday's global selloff in stocks sent Asia Pacific indices down sharply overnight but morning trading in Europe and North America suggests markets may be stabilizing at lower levels. US index futures, the Dax and the FTSE are all up about 0.2%, small bounces relative to recent declines.
Today is the last day of the week, month and quarter and with Canada and the US having holidays Monday and Tuesday, we may see continued profit-taking and positioning.
The end of the quarter also means earnings season is approaching which could be make or break time for a lot of high-flying, richly valued stocks. Last night's very positive report from Nike and a positive pre-announcement earlier this week from Western Digital indicate that some companies may be able to post strong enough growth to justify their stock prices. Today's action in Nike may give an early indication of whether traders are looking to earnings season for a reason to add to long positions or for a reason to take money off the table.
Currency markets are mixed so far today. The US Dollar is bouncing back a bit, particularly against EUR. GBP continues to bump up against $1.3000. CAD is the top performing currency, capitalizing on a rebound in the WTI oil price toward $45.00 and increasing expectations for a Bank of Canada rate hike in July.
It's a big day for economic news. In the US today, core PCE inflation and Chicago PMI may attract the most scrutiny from traders. In Canada, GDP and producer prices could influence interest rate speculation. Overnight data has been mixed. Chinese PMI reports were positive (helping to boost crude oil) but Japanese reports were mostly below expectations likely keeping the Bank of Japan dovish. Strong German retail sales were offset by weak employment while a pickup in Eurozone inflation adds to the pressure on the ECB to cut back on monetary stimulus.
Corporate News
Nike$0.60 vs street $0.50, announced plans to sell shoes through Amazon.com and Instagram
Economic News
Significant announcements released overnight include:
Germany retail sales4.8% vs street 2.8% vs previous (0.9%)
Germany unemployment chang7K vs street (10K)
Germany unemployment rate5.7% as expected
UK Q1 GDP update2.0% as expected
Eurozone consumer prices1.3% vs street 1.2% vs previous 1.4%
Eurozone core CPI1.2% vs street 1.0% vs previous 0.9%
Japan unemployment rate3.1% vs street 2.8%
Japan consumer prices0.4% vs street 0.5%
Japan industrial production6.8% vs street 6.9%
Japan housing starts(0.3%) vs street (0.7%)
Japan construction orders(0.5%) vs previous (0.2%)
China manufacturing PMI51.7 vs street 51.0
China non-manufacturing PMI54.9 vs previous 54.5
Upcoming significant economic announcements include:
8:30 am EDTUS personal incomestreet 0.3%
8:30 am EDTUS personal spendingstreet 0.1%
8:30 am EDTUS core PCE inflationstreet 1.4%
8:30 am EDTCanada April GDPstreet 3.4%
8:30 am EDTCanada industrial pricesstreet 0.4%
8:30 am EDTCanada raw material pricesstreet 0.0%
9:45 am EDTUS Chicago PMIstreet 58.0
10:00 am EDTUS consumer sentimentstreet 94.5
Colin Cieszynski
Del