Daily News Report

Markets in a Flash

• Overnight Japanese markets closed higher, reversing yesterday’s losses. The Nikkei 225 was up +1.73%.
• Equity markets in China finished lower overnight. The Shanghai index was down -0.67%, while the Hong Knog Hang Seng finished flat at +0.01%.
• European equity markets are pushing higher this morning. The Stoxx 50 is up +0.55% after it opened flat this morning.
• Commodities are having a mixed session today. Grain prices are pushing higher on the news of a Russian export ban. Oil is trading just above $82.00 while Gold is still at the $1200.00 level.
• The EUR/USD is pushing higher and is close to its 3 month high from a few day back.
• The USD seems to be looking slightly weak today, most currencies seem to have made an advance against it in the past few hours.
• US equity futures are very slightly higher this morning, about an hour before the opening bell.

News focus

German industry continues to look strong

Germany’s industrial orders data came in to show June’s orders 3.2% higher than the previous month. This was a stronger than expected figure and shows that Europe’s largest economy is still recovering strongly. The strength in orders has been coming from the East in particular China, but this recent data has seen orders from within Europe increase by 11.3%. This may suggest that the health of the Eurozone is better than expected.

Russia bans grain exports

Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister of Russia has announced that a temporary ban on the export of grain from the country will take effect from the 15 August. The export ban has been implemented after Russia’s crops have been decimated by a drought in the country. The ban has been put in place to protect the country against an increase in the domestic price of the commodity. This news has sent the price of grain on the worldwide exchanges higher, in Chicago the price of wheat is up nearly 80% in about a month.

Just Released

0830ET - Jobless Claims

Previous 457 K
Consensus 455 K
Consensus Range 444 K to 465 K
Actual 479 K

This week’s jobless claims figure came in far worse than consensus and worse than previous. This shows that considerable more people than expected and more than last week have claimed for jobless insurance in the US. This indicates that the employment situation in the US is worse than expected and is not a good sign ahead of tomorrows non-farm payrolls data.

Coming up Today

1030ET – Natural Gas Report

The weekly report by the Energy Information Administration provides data on US natural gas stocks. A report showing a drop in natural gas stocks may signal increasing demand in the economy and see an increase in the price of the commodity.