Stock markets around the world are trading lower to start the new week. Markets in Europe are under particular pressure, continuing Friday’s selloff with the automotive sector weakening. The DAX is down 0.4%, while the FTSE 100 is down 0.9% today.
US index futures are down marginally as traders focus on today’s round of earnings reports. Results from Hasbro Inc (NASDAQ:HAS) and Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) have been positive so far, with the latter reflecting a rebound in oil and gas exploration with the price holding above $40. After the close Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Inc Class A (DE:ABEA) is scheduled to report with Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL)due tomorrow.
Currency trading action has been mixed so far with GBP and AUD up slightly against USD, while EUR and CAD are down slightly against USD. This is a bit perplexing considering that the Eurozone and Canada did particularly well in the latest round of IMF global growth forecasts receiving increases, while forecasts for the US and UK were trimmed back. Considering that the US Dollar Index has been steadily sliding for over two weeks, fading expectations for the world’s largest economy may have already been priced in heading toward this week’s FOMC meeting.
Besides the big boost for Canada, the most interesting part of the IMF report was significant upgrades for Spain and Italy. Greece announced a new debt offering today, which if successful, could add to the case suggesting some of the Mediterranean economies, which have been laggards for years, may be finally starting to turn around.
Flash PMI reports have been coming out overnight, with the first look at July a bit soft so far. U.S. manufacturing and service flash reports are due out mid-morning, which could attract some attention from traders along with the continuing political soap opera stateside.