Germany Sees Further Disappointing Data, Alcoa to Kick Off Earnings Season After the Market Close
July 8, 2014 8:26 am
European stock markets fell on Tuesday as investors demonstrated caution ahead of the start of the second quarter earnings season. Equity markets are now drifting away from last week’s highs with attention focussed on corporate results for a fresh viewpoint on the state of the health of the US economy. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index slipped 0.2% while the FTSE100 index in London was down 0.1% and the DAX in Frankfurt was off 0.2%. Futures on the S&P500 Index fell 0.1%, pressured by the declines in Europe early morning. On Wall Street, the S&P500 fell 0.4% from a record high reached last Thursday on the back of the strong US jobs report.
That fed into the Asian session overnight where major equity markets were posting losses, with the earnings season in the region also set to kick off in coming weeks. Alcoa Inc., unofficially opens the second-quarter U.S. earnings-reporting season today with its report due after the closing bell in the US – Asian investors will be first to react to it followed by Europe on Wednesday morning.
For now in Europe, more disappointing German data is fuelling worries about the stalling of the euro zone’s biggest economy. German trade figures for May show a greater-than-expected fall in exports in May, of 1.1%; exports have contracted in three out of five months so far this year. Furthermore, imports showed a surprise fall of 3.4%, which is a huge estimates miss when the expectation was for a 0.5% month-on-month rise.
This disappointing trade data followed weak industrial output numbers released yesterday, as well as last week’s poor factory orders, retail sales and labour market data reports. Clearly Germany is experiencing a bout of weakness – what’s key for markets now is how long it will take for Germany to find its balance.
Earlier in Asia, the MSCI Asia Pacific Index slipped 0.1% while Tokyo’s Nikkei Average was down 0.3%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was down 0.1% while the Shanghai Composite Index was up just 0.1%. Indonesia’s benchmark Jakarta Composite Index rose 1.2% to a one-year high on speculation that market favourite Joko Widodo will win tomorrow’s presidential election.
Currency markets remain largely subdued with the euro broadly unchanged on the day against the US dollar at 1.3596. In commodities markets, gold climbed 0.3% to $1,320.40 per troy ounce, while Brent crude continued to weaken, down a further 0.2% at $110.00 as Libya prepares to boost exports by reopening two ports that have been closed for the past year.
European stock markets fell on Tuesday as investors demonstrated caution ahead of the start of the second quarter earnings season. Equity markets are now drifting away from last week’s highs with attention focussed on corporate results for a fresh viewpoint on the state of the health of the US economy. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index slipped 0.2% while the FTSE100 index in London was down 0.1% and the DAX in Frankfurt was off 0.2%. Futures on the S&P500 Index fell 0.1%, pressured by the declines in Europe early morning. On Wall Street, the S&P500 fell 0.4% from a record high reached last Thursday on the back of the strong US jobs report.
That fed into the Asian session overnight where major equity markets were posting losses, with the earnings season in the region also set to kick off in coming weeks. Alcoa Inc., unofficially opens the second-quarter U.S. earnings-reporting season today with its report due after the closing bell in the US – Asian investors will be first to react to it followed by Europe on Wednesday morning.
For now in Europe, more disappointing German data is fuelling worries about the stalling of the euro zone’s biggest economy. German trade figures for May show a greater-than-expected fall in exports in May, of 1.1%; exports have contracted in three out of five months so far this year. Furthermore, imports showed a surprise fall of 3.4%, which is a huge estimates miss when the expectation was for a 0.5% month-on-month rise.
This disappointing trade data followed weak industrial output numbers released yesterday, as well as last week’s poor factory orders, retail sales and labour market data reports. Clearly Germany is experiencing a bout of weakness – what’s key for markets now is how long it will take for Germany to find its balance.
Earlier in Asia, the MSCI Asia Pacific Index slipped 0.1% while Tokyo’s Nikkei Average was down 0.3%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was down 0.1% while the Shanghai Composite Index was up just 0.1%. Indonesia’s benchmark Jakarta Composite Index rose 1.2% to a one-year high on speculation that market favourite Joko Widodo will win tomorrow’s presidential election.
Currency markets remain largely subdued with the euro broadly unchanged on the day against the US dollar at 1.3596. In commodities markets, gold climbed 0.3% to $1,320.40 per troy ounce, while Brent crude continued to weaken, down a further 0.2% at $110.00 as Libya prepares to boost exports by reopening two ports that have been closed for the past year.
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