The Breakfast Briefing: Global Stocks Waver Ahead of Europe, U.S. Economic Data

Ted

FYI: Global stocks paused Tuesday, halting early-week declines that had been sparked by rising anxieties over the health of global economic growth.

The Stoxx Europe 600 was flat in the opening minutes of trade, with gentle gains for its telecoms sector balancing slight pressure on the index’s autos sector.

With investors treading water in anticipation of a trade deal between the U.S. and China, market focus has in recent sessions returned to the uncertain outlook for many of the world’s major economies.

European investors were awaiting a slew of economic indicators due Tuesday morning, amid a lack of fresh developments in global trade. The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that the U.S. and China were in the final stages of completing a trade deal after months of bargaining, but some media reports have cited a sticking point on enforcement as holding up further progress.

Still, with the Shanghai Composite Index up 0.9% and the more volatile Shenzhen A-Share up 2.3%, Chinese stocks bucked a wave of shallow selling across most other major Asian indexes. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 0.4% and the South Korean Kospi was down 0.5%.

In the U.S., futures put the S&P 500, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq-100 on course for flat opens, after skittishness over trade prompted the worst day for the Dow and S&P 500 since Feb. 7.

Aside from watching trade developments, U.S. investors were awaiting U.S. economic figures including home sales, which “will get some attention because they’ve been one of the weak links in the U.S. economic story over the last year and a half,” according to CIBC’s Mr. Donabedian.

The WSJ Dollar Index, which measures the U.S. currency against a basket of 16 others, was last up 0.2%.
Regards,
Ted

WSJ:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/global-stocks-waver-ahead-of-europe-u-s-economic-data-11551776576

Bloomberg:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-03-04/asia-stocks-set-to-follow-u-s-slide-dollar-gains-markets-wrap?srnd=premium

IBD:
https://www.investors.com/market-trend/stock-market-today/dow-jones-futures-salesforce-earnings-salesforce-stock-huya-stock/

CNBC:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/05/stock-market-investors-monitor-us-china-trade-developments.html

Europe:
https://www.bloomberg.com//news/articles/2019-03-05/europe-stocks-open-flat-as-automakers-fall-total-jumps-on-deal?srnd=markets-vp

Asia:
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/asian-markets-decline-despite-chinas-bullish-growth-goal-2019-03-04/print

Bonds:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/04/us-treasury-yields-slip.html

Currencies:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/05/forex-markets-dollar-euro-european-central-bank-in-focus.html

Oil:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/05/oil-markets-fuel-demand-opec-led-supply-cuts-in-focus.html

Gold:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/05/gold-markets-dollar-us-treasurys-in-focus.html

Current Futures:
https://finviz.com/futures.ashx