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LONDON, Aug 2 (Reuters) - A look at the day ahead from Karin
Strohecker.
It's a new week, a new month and time for a fresh start - but
the problems niggling at markets this morning are still the
same.
Chinese stocks' continued rebound after a selloff caused by
Beijing's regulatory crackdown lifted markets across Asia.
European and U.S. equity futures are also higher thanks
companies' second-quarter earnings that are up 120% and 90%
respectively year-on-year.
Add to that more fiscal stimulus in the United States where
senators unveiled a sweeping $1 trillion infrastructure plan
that could pass this week.
But releases of Asia purchasing manager indexes (PMI) show
clouds on the horizon; rising input costs and a new wave of
coronavirus infection overshadowed solid global demand,
highlighting the fragile nature of the region's recovery.
Manufacturing activity rose in export powerhouses Japan and
South Korea, but China readings confirm that growth is indeed
slowing amid rising costs and extreme weather in the world's
second largest economy.
China's central bank pledged over the weekend to maintain a
prudent, flexible and targeted monetary policy to support growth
while keeping the digital economy in check.
The growth concerns sent oil 1% lower and kept the dollar
just above a one-month low.
More PMI readings are due today and Wednesday, but this
week's biggest datapoint is Friday's U.S. payrolls --- the last
major jobs reading available to the Fed before its Jackson Hole
summit, where many expect it to say when it will start tapering
bond-buying.
Then there are geopolitical tensions. The United States and
Britain have pointed the finger at Iran, blaming it for last
week's attack on an Israeli-managed petroleum product tanker
that killed two people.
Back on the earnings front, HSBC continues the run
of forecast-beating Q2 numbers, reporting first-half pretax
profit that more than doubled from last year when it made huge
provisions for pandemic-related bad loans.
Heineken, the world's second-largest brewer,
reported first-half earnings above expectations but said the
rest of the year could be less rosy given cost pressures and
COVID-19.
Finally, the U.S. debt ceiling suspension expired on the
weekend, forcing the Treasury into extraordinary measures to get
by. Later on Monday, it will announce its overall refunding
plans.
Key developments that should provide more direction to markets
on Monday:
-German retail sales June
-U.S. ISM manufacturing PMI
-Auctions: 6-m and 3m t-bills
-European earnings: HSBC, Axa,
Heineken, Ferrari
-U.S. earnings: Royal Caribbean
(Reporting by Karin Strohecker; editing by Sujata Rao)
