The start of the new week and the last trading day of July finds US index futures trading up 0.1% while the FTSE and Dax are flat as traders digest Friday’s US market gains of 1.9% for the NASDAQ and 1.0% for the S&P 500, coupled with overnight Asia Pacific catchup gains of 1.2% for the Nikkei and 0.8% for the Hang Seng.
Energy prices continue to climb with WTI Crude Oil up 1.0% and trading above $80.00/bbl, while natural gas is up 1.9%. Action in metals is quieter with Copper up 0.3% and Gold holding steady.
It’s a quiet day for earnings reports and overnight economic news has been light as well. Chinese Manufacturing PMI was slightly better than expected and showed a bit of improvement, but that was offset by a weakening in Chinese Service PMI. Meanwhile, Eurozone Q2 GDP was slightly better than expected, while Eurozone CPI inflation was slightly worse than expected.
Later this morning, US Chicago PMI (street 43.0 vs previous 41.5) sets the stage for tomorrow’s Manufacturing PMI reports from around the world. The rest of the week is busy for economic news headlined by US ADP payrolls due Wednesday, Service PMI reports on Thursday, finishing off with US Nonfarm Payrolls, Canada jobs and wage inflation on Friday. Australia’s central bank is expected to raise its benchmark interest rate by another 0.25% tonight, and the Bank of England is expected to do the same when it meets on Thursday.
Meanwhile, we continue to move through the heart of earnings season with results due from a smaller number of large cap companies and an increasing number of mid-cap companies. Sectors in particular focus this week include Energy, Big Pharma, Technology, Industrials, and Insurance. Headliners include: Merck, Pfizer, Uber* Caterpillar and Starbucks Tuesday, Shopify*, Thomson Reuters* and Suncor Energy on Wednesday, Apple, Amazon.com, AirBnB, and BCE Thursday, finishing with Magna and Enbridge on Friday.
*Shares of Shopify, Uber, and Thomson Reuters, are held in some portfolios managed by SIA Wealth Management.