The Breakfast Briefing: Global Stocks Soften Ahead Of U.S. GDP Data

Ted

FYI: Global stocks opened lower Friday as investors awaited fresh data on U.S. growth later in the day.

In Europe, the Stoxx Europe 600 was down 0.1% in morning trading. In Asia, the Shanghai Stock Exchange was down 1.2%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was broadly flat and Japan’s Nikkei lost 0.2%.

Futures pointed to opening losses on Wall Street, of 0.2% for both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500.

Fresh concerns around emerging markets drove Asian markets lower on Friday, according to analysts at Deutsche Bank .

Dedicated emerging-market bond funds recorded the first week of outflows since mid-February in the week to April 24, according to Barclays data.

Analysts were anticipating U.S. first-quarter gross domestic product data from the Commerce Department later on Friday, amid continued questions around how long the world’s largest economy will continue to expand and when the effects of President Trump’s tax revamp will begin to fade.

Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal estimate GDP grew at a 2.5% annual rate in the quarter, which would mark the economy’s strongest performance in the January-to-March period since the first quarter of 2015.

The WSJ Dollar Index, which tracks the dollar against a basket of 16 currencies, dipped slightly, having reached its highest level in almost two years earlier this week.

The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield ticked down to 2.526% from 2.536% on Thursday. Yields move inversely to prices.

Elsewhere in commodities, global benchmark Brent crude oil was down 0.3% at $73.44 a barrel, while gold gained 0.4%.
Regards,
Ted
WSJ:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/global-stocks-soften-ahead-of-u-s-gdp-data-11556266432

Bloomberg:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-25/asian-stocks-set-for-mixed-open-dollar-steadies-markets-wrap?srnd=premium

IBD:
https://www.investors.com/market-trend/stock-market-today/dow-jones-futures-intel-warning-amazon-stock-market-rally/

CNBC:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/26/stock-market-gdp-data-and-corporate-earnings-in-focus-on-wall-street.html

U.K.:
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-stocks/glencore-probe-weak-earnings-reports-drag-ftse-100-lower-idUKKCN1S20OR

Europe:
https://www.reuters.com/article/europe-stocks/update-1-european-shares-dip-as-mixed-earnings-roll-in-u-s-gdp-in-focus-idUSL5N2282J6

Asia:
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/asian-markets-mostly-fall-after-dow-oil-prices-pull-back-2019-04-25/print

Bonds:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/26/us-treasurys-higher-ahead-of-gdp-data.html

Currencies:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/26/forex-market-us-gdp-data-dovish-central-banks-in-focus.html

Oil:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/26/oil-market-opec-output-rises-us-sanctions-on-iranian-oil-in-focus.html

Gold:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/26/gold-market-us-gdp-data-german-economic-data-in-focus.html

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