Today's Markets gm all. a lot of data today. let´s see what this will do to gold and silver
In Asia, Japan flat. Hong Kong +1.2%. China +0.7%. India +0.7%.
In Europe, at midday, London +0.1%. Paris +0.2%. Frankfurt +0.6%.
Futures at 6:20, Dow +0.1%. S&P +0.2%. Nasdaq +0.3%. Crude -0.2% to $45.39. Gold +0.2% to $1221.50.
Ten-year Treasury Yield -2 bps to 2.3%
Today's Economic Calendar
8:30 Initial Jobless Claims
8:30 Producer Price Index
9:30 Yellen testifies before senate Banking Committee
9:45 Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index
10:30 EIA Natural Gas Inventory
1:00 PM Results of $12B, 30-Year Note Auction
1:00 PM Fed's Reserve Gov. Lael Brainard: Monetary Policy
2:00 PM Treasury Budget
4:30 PM Money Supply
4:30 PM Fed Balance Sheet
Equity markets across the globe are flashing green, following another record U.S. market close driven by dovish comments from Janet Yellen. In yesterday's testimony on Capitol Hill, she signaled that the Fed will approach tightening cautiously, given the uncertain inflation outlook. Today, Yellen will deliver her second day of semiannual monetary policy testimony before the Senate Banking Committee.
Economy
Bolstered by firm global demand and robust appetite for construction materials at home, China posted stronger-than-expected trade figures for June. Exports from the world's second-largest economy rose 11.3% from a year earlier, while imports expanded 17.2%, resulting in a trade surplus of $42.77B. Trade tensions? The nation also posted its widest trade surplus with the U.S. since October 2015.
Meanwhile, China's imports from North Korea dropped 13.2% in January-to-June, but exports rose 29.1% during the period, as overall trade expanded 10.5% to $2.55B in the six months. The goods were not included on the U.N. embargo list, said Huang Songping, a customs spokesman. The U.S. has also notified South Korea it plans to start negotiating a five-year-old free trade deal next month.
Sanctions imposed by Arab states pushed Qatar's inflation rate up only modestly in June, suggesting Doha is having considerable success in limiting economic damage caused by its diplomatic crisis. It comes as Qatargas - the world's largest LNG producer - asked its suppliers to set up local operations in Qatar, in a bid to get around the penalties.
OPEC's compliance with its own oil supply cuts fell to 78% in June, according to the IEA, which suggested some members had "opened the taps." Global oil supply last month rose sharply by 720K barrels per day, driven by production growth in Saudi Arabia, Libya and Nigeria. "Each month something seems to come along to raise doubts about the pace of the rebalancing process," the agency declared.
EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier has fired back at U.K. Foreign Minister Boris Johnson's taunts during budget talks. Johnson said that EU leaders could "go whistle" if they expect the U.K. to pay a multi-billion-pound Brexit divorce bill, but speaking at a press conference in Brussels, Barnier had a soundbite of his own: "I'm not hearing any whistling, just the clock ticking."
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has arrived at the Elysee Palace for a joint cabinet session with President Macron. The two are aiming for tighter governance of the EU on a range of issues from euro debt management to security, as well as proposing a plan to harmonize the two countries' corporate tax policy. President Trump has also landed in Paris to celebrate Bastille Day.
Brazil's ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was sentenced to nearly 10 years in prison yesterday on corruption charges. Local markets and the real rallied on the news as it was seen lessening the chances Lula could contend for the presidency in 2018. He's considered the front-runner, but would be ineligible to run if the sentence is upheld on appeal.
Stocks
Another Dieselgate? Daimler (OTCPK:DDAIF) has been accused of selling over a million cars with excessive emissions in Europe and the U.S. for almost a decade, Sueddeutsche Zeitung reports. The criminal investigation involves cars equipped with two diesel engine types, dubbed OM 642 and OM 651, which used defeat devices to power down during emissions tests.
The annual Allen & Co. conference, gathering some 300 media and tech CEOs, plus some of the most powerful investors in the world, is underway in Sun Valley, Idaho. Details about the gathering are typically kept secret, but insiders have described the event as a "summer camp for billionaires." Among the celebrities on the guest list: Tim Cook, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner.
Some of the Web's biggest names - Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), Google (GOOG, GOOGL), Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) and Twitter (NYSE:TWTR)- joined forces on Wednesday to defend net neutrality. Messages were broadcast on website banners, pop-up widgets, blog posts and videos. The public will have until mid-August to send comments to the FCC before a final vote on Open Internet rules, which were adopted under Democratic control in 2015.
Minnesota is suing CenturyLink, claiming the company is overcharging customers in the state. According to General Lori Swanson, the company isn't honoring prices that customers are hearing from sales agents. The suit is separate from a class action that claims CenturyLink (NYSE:CTL) signed up and charged customers for services without their permission.
There's "no loss or theft" in an incident where customer data was left on an unsecured server, according to Verizon (NYSE:VZ). ZDNet reported that up to 14M subscriber records were left on an unprotected Amazon (AMZN) S3 server controlled by an employee of Nice Systems (NASDAQ:NICE). A researcher discovered the data in late June and informed Verizon, which said the 14M number was "overstated."
Defending their planned merger, DraftKings (Private:DRAFT) and FanDuel (Private:DUEL) said their deal would not lead to higher prices for players. They also argued that the tie-up would be better for consumers as it could compete against powerful companies in the longer-running fantasy sports businesses, like ESPN (NYSE:DIS) and Yahoo (VZ). An initial scheduling conference before an administrative judge at the FTC is slated for tomorrow.
Worldwide PC shipments in Q2 were down 4.3% on the prior year, according to Gartner, for a total of 61.1M units. It marks the eleventh consecutive quarter of shipment declines and the lowest quarterly volume in a decade. Supply shortages for DRAM, SSDs, and LCD panels are said to have driven up prices, while pushing down demand.
Pimco is suing Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) for withholding money allegedly owed to bond investors, in a dispute that could have implications for billions of dollars still locked up in mortgage securities created before the financial crisis. It's the latest twist in a legal saga that has pitted investors, including Pimco (OTCQX:AZSEY), against banks over their actions as MBS administrators.
The world's largest asset manager has launched four bond ETFs, while cutting fees on another, to lure more investors from traditional debt markets. BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) estimates bond ETFs attracted $84B so far in 2017, a record for the first-half of the year. "We have aspirations to be ubiquitous in every securities market," said Martin Small, U.S. Head of iShares.
On the move... AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN) -1.4% premarket on a report the pharmaceutical company could lose its CEO to generic rival Teva (NYSE:TEVA). According to Calcalist, Pascal Soriot met with the Israeli company's search committee and agreed to join as its new chief executive. Soriot is expected to earn twice as much as former CEO Erez Vigodman and receive an estimated $20M bonus. TEVA +2.6% premarket.
Qatar Airways still plans to purchase a 10% stake in American Airlines (NASDAQ:AAL) despite the U.S. carrier ending its code-share deal. The agreements allow airlines to sell tickets on each other's flights and share revenue. CEO Akbar Al Baker said he was disappointed by the decision, but the company would work with other partners in the U.S.
Two more gas turbines appear to have been delivered to Crimea, potentially deepening a row over sanctions compliance in which Siemens (OTCPK:SIEGY) has become embroiled. "Of course, this whole story is going to come out, but let it come out without us," a Crimean government official told Reuters. The equipment at the port of Feodosia was covered in tarpaulins, but matched the dimensions and shape of Siemens turbines.
