Markets Are Mixed

MIKE BIRD

 NOV. 10, 2014

Ken Hawkins/Flickr

European stocks are climbing a little early Monday, as the week gets underway..

Here’s the scorecard:

France’s CAC 40 is up 0.12%

Germany’s DAX is down 0.14%

The UK’s FTSE 100 is up 0.16%

Italy’s FTSE MIB is down 0.55%

Spain’s IBEX is down 0.10%

Asian markets closed mixed: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng climbed 0.83% from Friday’s close but Japan’s Nikkei ended 0.59% lower. 

US stock futures are basically flat: the S&P 500 is down 1.4 points, and the Dow is unchanged.

It’s a light day for data, so for Europe the major release is the Sentix investor confidence index at 9.30 a.m. GMT. Economists are expecting a bit of an improvement, but given the significant fall in confidence over recent months, it’s still likely to be pretty bad. 

Markets Are Down Ahead Of The ECB’s Big Announcement

MIKE BIRD

NOV. 6, 2014

REUTERS/Luke MacGregor

European stocks are down ahead of the ECB decision on rates and policy at 12.45 p.m. GMT. A press conference will follow at 1.30 p.m. GMT.

Germany’s DAX is down 0.14%

Spain’s IBEX is down 0.57%

Italy’s FTSE MIB is down 0.65% 

The UK’s FTSE 100 is down 0.33%

France’s CAC 40 is down 0.36%

In Asia, the Nikkei closed down 0.86% after rallying since Friday. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng closed down 0.20%.

US futures are slightly lower: the S&P is down 4.5 points and the Dow is down 26 points.

Today’s big economic event is the European Central Bank’s policy decision and president Mario Draghi’s press conference. Analysts aren’t expecting much action, but Draghi will likely face questions about growing rifts at the ECB.

At 9.30 a.m. GMT the UK’s industrial production numbers for September are out, with a 0.4% boost since August expected.

Later on from the US, at 1.30 p.m. GMT initial jobless claims numbers will be out, with 285,000 applications for unemployment benefits expected. Data on unit labour costs and productivity will be released at the same time. 

European Markets Are Mixed, Asian Markets Closed Way Up

MIKE BIRD

 OCT. 29, 2014

Food52/James Ransom

European equities indices are mixed this morning, after a strong night in Asia.

Here’s the scorecard, so far:

France’s CAC 40 is up 0.19%

Spain’s IBEX is down 0.16%

Italy’s FTSE MIB is down 1.43%

Germany’s DAX is up 0.65%

Britain’s FTSE 100 is up 0.43%

Asian markets had a good trading day and closed way up. The Nikkei finished up 1.46%. The Hang Seng closed up 1.27%.

US futures are basically flat: The S&P is up 0.25 points and the Dow is down 13 points. 

Mortgage lending figures from the Bank of England are out at 5:30 a.m. ET, which should give some indication of the health of the housing market in September. Analysts are expecting a slight dip.

From the US later, the major scheduled news is the Federal Reserve’s announcement on rates and QE at 2 p.m. ET. Most importantly, despite the volatility of recent weeks, they are expected to taper the last of the country’s quantitative easing purchases and end QE3. 

Markets Are Climbing

MIKE BIRD

 OCT. 28, 2014

Stringer / Getty Images

Good morning! European markets have seen a decent rally Early Tuesday. 

Here’s the scorecard, so far:

France’s CAC 40 is up 0.72%

Spain’s IBEX is up 1.30%

Italy’s FTSE MIB is up 1.58%

Britain’s FTSE 100 is up 0.64%

Germany’s DAX is up 1.46%

Asian markets closed mixed again. The Nikkei closed down 0.38%. The Hang Seng closed up 1.63%.

US futures are up too. The S&P is up 10.50 points and the Dow is up 79 points. 

It’s a quiet day for data from Europe today, but there’s a bundle from the US later on. At 7.30 a.m. ET, durable goods orders are out, with economists expecting a 0.5% boost in September. The Case-Shiller house price index is out at 10 a.m. ET, followed by consumer confidence an hour later. 

Markets Are Sinking

MIKE BIRD

 OCT. 24, 2014

REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui

Good morning. European markets opened down, after an Ebola-driven drop in US stock futures. 

Here’s the scorecard, so far: 

France’s CAC 40 is down 0.60%

Spain’s IBEX is down 0.41%

Italy’s FTSE MIB is down 0.51%

Britain’s FTSE 100 is down 0.57%

Germany’s DAX is down 0.58%

In Asia, the Nikkei closed up 1.01% and the Hang Seng is currently down 0.33%

S&P futures are down 0.24% and Dow futures are down 0.10%.

In terms of economic data, we’ve already seen Chinese property prices, with the index falling in 69 of China’s 70 major urban areas. 

Germany’s GfK index of consumer confidence came in higher than expected, at 8.5, up from last month’s 8.4. 

At 4.30 a.m. ET, UK GDP data will be released. Analysts are expecting a 0.7% increase in the third quarter, up from a 0.9% rise in the second, with the fast-growing economy moderating a little.

From the US, September’s new home sales will be announced at 10 a.m. ET. Economists are expecting about 470,000 sales of new homes this month.

Markets Are Down

MIKE BIRD

 OCT. 23, 2014

REUTERS/Mathieu Belanger

Good morning! European markets are down early Thursday, after a similar drop in Asia overnight.

Here’s the scorecard, so far: 

France’s CAC 40 is down 0.60%

Spain’s IBEX is down 0.54%

Italy’s FTSE MIB is down 0.47%

Britain’s FTSE 100 is down 0.91%

Germany’s DAX is down 0.56%

In Asia, the Nikkei closed down 0.37% and the Hang Seng is currently down 0.59%

S&P futures are up 0.19%, and Dow futures are climbing 0.16% higher. 

Eurozone flash PMIs are out, it’s good news for Germany, which looks like it’s struggling a little less, and awful news for France, which increasingly looks like it’s in recession.

UK retail sales are out at 4:30 a.m. ET, with analysts expecting a 0.1% drop from August to September. 

Later Thursday morning, in the US there are initial jobless numbers at 8:30 a.m. ET, followed by the house price index half an hour later. At 9:45 a.m. ET, Markit’s manufacturing PMI figures will be released, with analysts expecting a 57 print, slightly down from last month. 

European Markets Are Sliding

MIKE BIRD

 OCT. 20, 2014

REUTERS/Andres Stapff

It’s looking like we didn’t see the end of volatility during last week’s sell-offs. So far, it’s been another rocky morning already, and European markets are down. Here’s the scorecard:

France’s CAC 40 is down 0.89%

Spain’s IBEX is down 1.04%

Italy’s FTSE MIB is down 0.92%

Britain’s FTSE 100 is down 0.32%

Germany’s DAX is down 1.00%

Asian markets are up. After a massive sell-off last week week, good news for investors from the world’s largest pension fund drove the Nikkei up 3.98% overnight. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index is currently up 0.30%

US futures are up too. The S&P is 0.41% higher and the Dow is up 0.40%.

Italian industrial orders for August just out showed a 3.2% drop from the same month last year, and a German release showed a 4.7% increase in tax income for the government this September. But not everything is great for Germany: Lufthansa’s pilot strike spread to long-haul journeys Monday and grounded thousands of flights. 

There’s nothing much data-wise coming from the US today, but after trading, at 10 p.m. ET, there’s a series of major releases out of China. Analysts are expecting a 1.8% rise in GDP figures for the third quarter, along with a 7.5% and 11.8% increase respectively for industrial production and retail sales during the year to September. 

PIMCO: There’s A ‘Perfect Storm’ Coming For Bond Markets

MIKE BIRD

 OCT. 17, 2014

Bond markets are heading for a “perfect storm,” according to Andrew Bosomworth, head of PIMCO’s German portfolio management. Bosomworth was speaking to Bloomberg’s Countdown program early Friday. 

As if to prove a point, the Greek government’s 10-year bond yield spiked above 9%. The cost of servicing Greece’s government debt is now at its highest level in 2014 so far, pretty much killing the government’s plan to leave its bailout early.

And according to a note from Pantheon Macroeconomics this morning, though they are still low in comparison to their euro crisis highs, we are seeing “clear and acute signs of stress in Portugal, Spain and Italy.”

Investing.com

Markets Around The World Are Rallying

MIKE BIRD

OCT. 6, 2014

Getty Images

Good morning! European markets are up early Monday.

Here’s the scorecard:

France’s CAC 40 is up 0.64%

Spain’s IBEX is up 1.05%

Italy’s FTSE MIB is up 0.49%

Britain’s FTSE 100 is up 0.40%

German markets are leading the climb, up 1.23% despite the bad news on the country’s manufacturing sector Monday morning. 

Asian markets saw a solid performance too: the Hang Seng closed up 1.19% in Hong Kong, despite the ongoing protests there, and the Nikkei closed up 1.16% from Friday’s close.

U.S. futures are rising, with Dow futures and S&P futures up 0.34% and 0.432%, respectively.

It’s a quiet day as far as economic releases are concerned, kicking off a quiet week. But with extremely poor German factory orders seen Monday, industrial production figures for the country Tuesday will be watched a little more closely for any big signs of weakness.

Markets Are Staging A Nice Rally

MIKE BIRD, 4:05 PM

Flickr/Vlad

European markets are up early Friday morning, after a bad day following the latest monetary policy announcement from the European Central Bank. 

Here’s the scorecard:

France’s CAC 40 is up 0.77%

Spain’s IBEX is up 0.70%

Italy’s FTSE MIB is up 1.06%

Britain’s FTSE 100 is up 0.77%

German markets are closed today, for a national holiday. 

In Asia, the Hang Seng had its first good day in a while, it’s up 0.77%. The Nikkei closed up 0.30%.

U.S. futures are up, with Dow futures and S&P futures climbing 0.34% and 0.40%, respectively.

Eurozone retail sales figures are out at 5 a.m. ET, and figures should give some sign of consumer sentiment in September. 

Later in the US, we’ll get the jobs report at 8:30 a.m. ET. Analysts are expecting nonfarm payrolls in September to come in at 215,000. Last month, nonfarm payrolls came in below expectations at 142,000.

Markit’s services PMI is coming at 9:45 a.m. ET, followed by manufacturing numbers from the ISM at 10 a.m. ET. 

Markets Are Up

MIKE BIRD

 SEP. 30, 2014

REUTERS/Stringer

European markets are nudging higher early Tuesday, after a grim performance overnight for Asian stock indexes. 

Here’s the scorecard:

France’s CAC 40 is up 0.48%.

Germany’s DAX is up 0.04%

Spain’s IBEX is up 0.46%.

Italy’s FTSE MIB is up 0.42%

Britain’s FTSE 100 is down 0.11% 

Asian markets took a hit overnight. Nikkei’s 225 closed down 0.84% after some dreary economic data, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index closed down 0.94%, following the massive protests there.

U.S. futures are nudging up a little, with Dow futures up 0.15% and S&P futures up 0.18%.

Here’s what data is coming out of Europe on Tuesday:

At 4.30 a.m. ET there’s the second estimate for the UK’s Q2 GDP growth, which should come it an around 0.8%.

At 5 a.m. ET we have Eurozone CPI for September, with expectations of just a 0.3% increase from last year.

And in US data later on:

The S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index is expected to show that home prices fell by 0.1% month-over-month in July or 7.35% year-over-year.

The Chicago Purchasing Manager Index, which provides a regional view of business activity, will be released at 9:45 a.m. ET. Economists estimate this regional activity index slipped to 62.0 in September from 64.3 in August.

The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index is expected to climb to 92.5 in September from 92.4 in August.

Here’s All The Bad Stuff In The World That Could Make The Economy And Markets Go Haywire

JOE WEISENTHAL

SEP. 8, 2014

Here’s a fun slide from Deutsche Bank on the various risks to the economies that abound.

Each risk is numbered, and placed on a matrix of likelihood and impact. You can see how each risk has been moving. 

So for example, geopolitical risk has spiked in significance lately, with all the concerns about Russia, and ISIS and so forth. Meanwhile, the risk of a Chinese hard landing has faded a little bit, though if it were to happen, the impact would be significant. Another risk that seems to have faded is a US recession. 

Anyway, just some eye candy.

Deutsche Bank

Markets Are Down

 SEP. 4, 2014

REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi.

European markets are down early Thursday.

Here’s the scorecard:

France’s CAC 40 is down 0.3%.

Germany’s DAX is down 0.7%. 

Spain’s IBEX is down 0.3%.

Italy’s FTSE MIB is down 0.04%.

Britain’s FTSE 100 is up 0.07%.

Asian markets closed down, with Nikkei’s 225 closing down 0.3% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index closing down 0.08%.

U.S. futures are mostly down, with Dow futures down 4 points and NASDAQ futures down 5.3 points. S&P futures are up 0.20 points. 

It’s a huge day for economic news. In the U.S. later, we’ll get jobless claims, labor costs, trade deficit data, Markit services PMI, and non-manufacturing data. 

Economists expect weekly initial jobless to climb alongside labor costs, estimated to have risen .06% in Q2. 

All eyes will be on the ECB conference today as leaders address Europe’s failing economic health.

Markets Are Up

DINA SPECTO

 AUG. 13, 2014

Beverly & Pack

Watch out for bears.

European markets are up early in Wednesday trading. 

Here’s the scorecard:

Britain’s FTSE 100 is up 0.05%.

France’s CAC 40 is up 0.71%.

Germany’s DAX is up 0.93%. 

Spain’s IBEX is up 0.50%.

Italy’s FTSE MIB is up 0.67%.

Asia closed higher with Japan’s Nikkei up 0.35% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng up 0.81%.

Japan’s GDP fell 6.8% in Q2 after a national sales tax that went into effect in April triggered a decline in consumer spending. 

The Bank of England will release its inflation report, containing its economic predictions, at 10.30 a.m. BST.

U.K. unemployment fell as expected to 6.4 percent through June, the lowest level since 2008. But wages fell nonetheless by 0.2 percent.

The U.S. Commerce Department will release a report on retail sales at 8:30 a.m. ET. ”Early indications point to solid upside in retail sales in July,” said Morgan Stanley’s Wieseman.

U.S. futures are up with Dow futures up 49 points, Nasdaq 100 futures up 13 points, and S&P futures up 7.3 points. 

Markets Are Tanking Everywhere

ROB WILE

AUG. 6, 2014

REUTERS/Mathieu Belanger

Markets around the world are coughing up gains on fears of how Russia might respond to the latest round of Western sanctions, and on nasty data out of Europe.

The Wall Street Journal’s Patrick O’Connor reports that Russia may be considering restricting parts of its airspace to Western airlines, which could significantly drive up the cost of flying. O’Connor cites a Russian newspaper report, while Moscow has so far denied that that is an option.

But that they will respond is not in doubt. “…The government of Russia has already proposed a series of retaliatory measures against the so-called sanctions of certain countries,” Vladimir Putin said recently according to O’Connor. “I think that in current conditions, with the goal of protecting the interests of domestic producers, we could certainly think about that,” he added.

Russia has also now amassed 20,000 troops on the Ukrainian border after declaring the eastern part of that country to be on the verge of a “humanitarian disaster.”

Meanwhile, the Italian economy fell into recession after posting two-straight quarters of negative GDP. “Italy only briefing emerged from deep two year recession in the last quarter of 2013,” reports the FT’s Rachel Sanderson. “The figures show Italy’s GDP in the second quarter at its lowest level since 2000, according to the national statistics office report from news agency Ansa.” U.K. industrial production also came in well under expectations, at 0.3% versus 0.6% forecasted by analysts. 

As a result, markets are tanking around the world. Japan’s Nikkei fell 1.1%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng closed down 0.3%. In Europe, Britain’s FTSE was off 1.1%, while Germany’s DAX was down 1.3%. U.S. futures were off 0.5%.

The German two-year note was trading at zero as investors fled to safe assets. The last time that happened was during the Eurocrisis of 2011-2012. The 10-year note also fell to record lows. 

Markets Are Getting Crushed

 

DINA SPECTOR

AUG. 1, 2014

REUTERS/Brian Snyder

Markets are down early Friday.

Here’s the scorecard:

Britain’s FTSE 100 is down 1.09%.

France’s CAC 40 is down 1.34%.

Germany’s DAX is down 1.80%.

Spain’s IBEX is up 2.03%.

Italy’s FTSE MIB is down 1.40%.

This follows Thursday U.S. market sell-off where the Dow plunged 317 points.

A new purchasing managers survey on Friday showed that British manufacturing in July grew at its slowest pace in a year. 

Asian markets were also in the red on Friday with Japan’s Nikkei closing down 0.63% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng down 0.91%. This comes after Chinese manufacturing hit an 18-month high. 

U.S. futures are down.

The U.S. jobs report is set to come out at 8:30 a.m. ET.

“Market participants should once again be prepared for a very healthy employment report,” Societe Generale’s Aneta Markowska and her team said in their preview of the report. 

Markets Are In The Red, Major Portugese Bank Crashes

SAM RO 

JUL. 31, 2014

REUTERS/Susana Vera

Traders talk at the Madrid stock exchange.

Stocks are down across Europe.

Britain’s FTSE is down 0.2%.

France’s CAC 40 is down 0.7%.

Germany’s DAX is down 1.0%.

Spain’s IBEX is down 1.6%.

This comes in the wake of new inflation and unemployment data.

Consumer prices in the euro zone climbed by just 0.4% year-over-year in July, the lowest rate in five years.

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate in the region slipped to 11.5% in June from 11.6%.

“Lowflation in the euro area suggests the European Central Bank will maintain its easing bias,” said Bloomberg economists David Powell and Niraj Shah. “Those weak price pressures are likely to endure as the unemployment rate remains elevated.”

In Portugal, beleagured Banco Espirito Santo immediately lost half of its market value after shares resumed trading in the wake of a horrific earnings announcment.

“Banco Espirito Santo SA’s stock plunged by the most on record and the bonds slumped after it was ordered to raise capital following a 3.6 billion-euro ($4.8 billion) first-half net loss,” reported Bloomberg’s Joao Lima. “The Bank of Portugal required the lender to raise the money after it set aside 4.25 billion euros in the first half, mostly to cover souring loans to other members of the Espirito Santo Group. That cut Banco Espirito Santo’s common equity Tier 1 ratio to 5 percent, less than the 7 percent regulatory minimum, according to a statement yesterday.”

This is weighing on the Portugese stock market where the PSI20 is down 3.2%.

@ReutersJamie

“Banco Espirito Santo shares resume trading after suspension….and plunge 45%”

MARKETS JUMP AFTER BIG GDP REPORT

SAM RO

 JUL. 30, 2014, 8:45 PM

REUTERS/Jeff Zelevansky

U.S. futures are moving following today’s strong GDP report.

S&P 500 futures are up 10 points. Just prior to the release, they were up 3 points.

GDP grew at a 4.0% pace in Q2, reported the BEA. This was much stronger than the 3.0% expected by economists.

Dow futures are up 75 points and Nasdaq futures are up 21 points.

With the GDP report, we learedn that personal consumption jumped 2.5%, beating expectations for a 1.9% gain.

Making things even better, Q1 GDP growth was revised up to -2.1% from -2.9%, and personal consumption was revised up to+1.2% from +1.0%.

“There were large upward revisions to H2 2013: Q4 GDP is now 4.5% vs 4.1% previously and Q4 is now 3.5% vs. 2.6% previously,” noted Deutsche Bank’s Joe LaVorgna.

MARKETS GO NOWHERE, FACEBOOK SURGES: Here’s What You Need To Know

MYLES UDLAND

 JUL. 25, 2014, 4:00 AM

REUTERS/Thomas Peter

Soldiers of the 209th corp of the Afghan army (ANA) roll up the red carpet after a visit by German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen (not pictured) at Camp Shaheen outside Mazar-i-Sharif.

Stocks finished lower, but little changed, after economic data early in the session was mixed and a flood of corporate earnings again poured in. By virtue of a higher close, the S&P 500 made yet another all-time high.

First, the scoreboard:

• Dow: 17,089.81, +3.2, (+0.02%)
• S&P 500:1,988.87, +1.9, (+0.09)
• Nasdaq: 4,474.12, +2.4, (0.06%)

And now, the scoreboard:

1) This morning, weekly initial jobless claims data came in way better than expected, as 284,000 individuals filed for unemployment, down from 302,000 last week and lower than the 307,000 that was expected by economists. This reading was the lowest number for the index since February 2006. Following the report, Neil Dutta at Renaissance Macro said that the underlying trend in weekly claims remains healthy, but noted that this data, “likely informs more about production than employment.”

2) Markit’s preliminary U.S. PMI reading came in at 56.3,worse than last month’s 57.3 and below the 57.4 that was expected by economists. The report also indicated that job creation was the weakest since September 2013, but Markit’s Chris Williamson said recent data remains strong. “U.S. manufacturers are enjoying a summer of scorching growth,” Williamson said. “Output grew in July at a rate only just below the four-year peak seen in June as inflows of new orders surged higher again. The data suggest the sector is growing at an annualized rate of roughly 8% as we moved into the second half of the year. The growth rebound that the survey has signaled for the second quarter therefore looks to have been sustained into the third quarter.”

3) Housing data also disappointed, as new home sales fell 8.1% in June to an annualized rate of 406,000, worse than the 5.8% decline expected by economists. Following the report, Michael Gapen at Barclays said, “The June decline plus revision to May have erased the rebound in Q2 new homes sales that we had expected… Altogether, this is a much softer report than expected and suggests housing demand has stabilized in recent quarter, as opposed to improving.”

4) It was a tough day for traders betting against Zillow or SodaStream, as shares of both companies soared following possible deal reports from Bloomberg. Zillow shares gained more than 15% after Bloomberg said the company is seeking to acquire online real estate rival Trulia. Following the report, Trulia shares gained nearly 32%. SodaStream shares also surged, gaining about 10% after Bloomberg reported the company is in talks with a private investment company to go private. 

5) The International Monetary Fund, or IMF, cut its global GDP forecast to 3.4% from 3.6%, with the organization saying that, “Global growth could be weaker for longer, given the lack of robust momentum in advanced economies.” Among the biggest cuts was the IMF’s slashing of 2014 U.S. GDP growth, to 1.7% from 2.8%. 

6) After last night reporting better than expected profit and revenue,Facebook shares made a new all-time high, closing above $75.

7) Among notable companies reporting earnings before the market open were Caterpillar, which reported better than expected results but saw shares fall more than 3%, and General Motors, which took a $900 million charge on potential future recalls and saw shares fall nearly 5%. 

8) Notable earnings reports expected after the market close include Amazon, Visa, and Starbucks.