Sep E-mini stock futures this morning are up +0.25 points (+0.01%) at a 5-1/2 month high and European stocks are up +0.63% at a 1-month high. A rally in automakers is leading the overall market higher on the report that European Commission President Jean-Claude Junker will meet with President Trump on July 25 in Washington to negotiate the reduction of car tariffs. Gains in U.S. equities were limited on weakness in technology stocks as Alphabet fell -0.5% in pre-market trading after the EU fined the company $5 billion over apps for Android mobile devices. Asian markets settled mixed as China’s Shanghai Composite closed down -0.39% and Japan’s Nikkei Stock Index closed up +0.43% at a 1-month high. Chinese stocks fell as the yuan tumbled to an 11-1/4 month low against the dollar, while a rally in Japanese exporters led the Nikkei higher as USD/JPY rose +0.11% to a 6-1/4 month high. The dollar index is up +0.33% at a 2-week high after Kansas City Fed President George said the U.S. economy is in “excellent” shape and firing on all cylinders. EUR/USD is down -0.36% at a 2-week low after Eurozone Jun core CPI was revised lower. GBP/USD is down -0.66% at a 10-1/4 month low after UK consumer prices rose at a slower-than-expected pace. Sep 10-year T-notes are up +1.5 ticks.
UK Jun CPI was unch m/m and rose +2.4% y/y, weaker than expectations of +0.2% m/m and +2.% y/y. Jun core CPI rose +1.9% y/y, weaker than expectations of +2.1 y/y and the slowest pace of increase n 15-months.
The UK May house price increase rose +4.0% y/y, weaker than expectations of +3.7% y/y and the smallest pace of increase in 4-3/4 years.
Eurozone Jun core CPI was revised lower to +0.9% y/y from the previously reported +1.0% y/y.
Kansas City Fed President George said the economy is in “excellent” shape, firing on all cylinders, and that “the Fed’s large holdings of Treasury securities may be keeping longer-term rates below where they otherwise would be, and, therefore, distorting the signal from the yield curve.”
Morning Markets Last Chg %chg
E-mini S&P 500 (U8) 2811.50 0.25 0.01%
Europe Euro Stoxx 50 3479.37 21.87 0.63%
Japan Nikkei Index 22794 97 0.43%
China Shanghai Comp. 2787 -11 -0.39%
10yr T-notes (CBT)(U8) 120.055 0.015 0.04%
U.S. Dollar Index 95.300 0.315 0.33%
Euro FX (EUR/USD) 1.1619 -0.0042 -0.36%
Dollar-yen (USD/JPY) 113.00 0.12 0.11%
Sterling (GBP/USD) 1.3028 -0.0087 -0.66%
WTI Crude Oil (Q8) 67.56 -0.52 -0.76%
Brent Crude Oil (U8) 71.72 -0.44 -0.61%
Gasoline (Nymex) (Q8) 2.0178 -0.0083 -0.41%
Gold (Comex) (Q8) 1222.6 -4.7 -0.38%
Silver (Comex) (U8) 15.440 -0.177 -1.13%
Copper (Comex) (U8) 2.729 -0.019 -0.67%