FYI: U.S. stock index futures were lower Friday morning as investors continued to monitor U.S.-China trade relations and movements in the bond markets.
4:00AM CDST:
S&P Futures -16
Dow Futures -121
Nasdaq Futures-59
Stock markets ticked lower in Europe and China amid a hiatus in the global trade tensions that led to volatility across asset classes in recent days.
The benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 dropped 0.3% Friday, bringing to a halt two days of gains. China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.7%, while stocks in Japan and South Korea posted gains.
Italian government bonds were sold off heavily, pushing yields sharply higher after Matteo Salvini, the head of the far-right League party, sought to trigger elections.
Italian 10-year yields rose to 1.712% and German yields fell to minus 0.585%, pushing the difference between the two to 2.297 percentage points, its greatest since July 1. The gap has mainly been close to or below 2 percentage points in recent weeks.
China’s yuan remained stable following central bank moves to hold the currency at stronger levels and avoid further depreciation. However, the offshore rate to the dollar remains weaker than a previous key level, with the currency trading at 7.08 to the dollar.
Later on Friday, investors are likely to watch the U.S. Labor Department’s release of July producer prices data for signs of momentum in inflation. The gauge of business prices ticked higher in June but pointed to relatively subdued inflation. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal forecast a rise in the producer-price index of 0.2% from a month earlier.
In commodities markets, Brent crude oil prices were flat at $57.38 a barrel. Gold was 0.3% at $1,514.20.
Regards,
Ted
WSJ:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/stocks-drift-lower-yuan-remains-stable-11565338669Bloomberg
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-08-08/yen-gains-yuan-dips-as-trade-frictions-return-markets-wrap?srnd=premiumIBD:
https://www.investors.com/market-trend/stock-market-today/dow-jones-futures-micron-amd-apple-huawei-report-china-yuan-uber-trade-desk/CNBC:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/09/stock-market-china-us-trade-relations-in-focus-once-again.htmlReuters:
U.K.
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-stocks/renewed-trade-jitters-hit-ftse-100-wpp-outperforms-idUKKCN1UZ0NUEurope:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-stocks/italys-political-turmoil-push-european-shares-lower-idUSKCN1UZ0NOAsia:
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/asian-markets-rise-as-japans-gdp-beats-forecast-chinas-yuan-remains-stable-2019-08-08/printBonds:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/08/us-bonds-treasury-yields-pare-losses-as-global-growth-fears-fade.htmlCurrencies:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/09/forex-markets-us-china-trade-in-focus.htmlOil:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/09/oil-markets-opec-us-china-trade-in-focus.htmlGold:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/09/gold-markets-us-china-trade-global-economy-in-focus.htmlCuirrent Futures:
https://finviz.com/futures.ashx
