Five Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day
Five Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day
(Bloomberg) --
Good morning. Investors globally continue to dissect conflicting statistics on the economy, oil’s having a decent week, the health of German leader Angela Merkel is gaining more and more media attention and Bloomberg’s found the perfect drink for your weekend. Here’s what’s moving markets.
Shaky
Sentiment in equities is notably shaky. Asian markets were mixed overnight as an unexpected contraction in Singapore’s economy in the second quarter sent a warning shot on the impact of ongoing trade tensions. The region has also been digesting Trump’s tweets from Thursday complaining that China hasn’t increased its purchases of American farm products, a key component of last month’s discussion on broader trade. Keep an eye out for China trade balance numbers due out this morning.
Barry
Oil’s headed for its biggest weekly gain in three as simmering Middle East tensions, shrinking U.S. crude inventories and a storm in the Gulf of Mexico – called Barry -- all conspire to threaten the supply outlook. Meanwhile, Iran’s attempt to block the passage of a British tanker in the Persian Gulf has ratcheted up tension in the oil-rich region. Here’s a good explanation of exactly what’s going on there.
Data Dominates
You can try, but you just can’t fight data. U.S. President Donald Trump may have won his battle for lower rates after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell indicated a strong possibility of an impending cut, but the war might have just begun after inflation was shown Thursday to have risen more than expected in June. Now what? The dollar pared Thursday’s gain overnight.
Merkel’s Health
There’s some focus on the health of Angela Merkel after the German chancellor opted to sit through a ceremony on Thursday, a day after she suffered her third bout of shaking in less than a month during a similar event. The episode has raised questions over whether she’ll continue to lead Europe’s largest economy until 2021, when an election is due. Here’s a guide to how Germany would find a new leader if the 64-year-old were to stand down early.
Coming Up...
Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, who’s declining to comment on his interest in becoming head of the International Monetary Fund, and also policy maker Gertjan Vlieghe, speak in London, just as one investment bank is predicting policy easing this year. Data due today includes euro-area and Turkish industrial production, as well as U.S producer price index after the higher-than-expected June CPI mentioned above. Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal meet at Wimbledon later for the first time since their truly epic 2008 final.
What We’ve Been Reading
This is what’s caught our eye over the past 24 hours.
- Your drink for this weekend: Cherry Calimocho.
- A 210,000-year-old skull found in Greece is the earliest sign of modern humans in Europe and Asia.
- Fruit juice consumption increases cancer risk, study shows.
- Busted cocaine ship is not really JPMorgan’s.
- Trump gets nostalgic over Deutsche Bank.
- Mercedes thieves showed just how vulnerable car-sharing can be.
- Getting protein derived from dairy, without cows.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Phil Serafino at pserafino@bloomberg.net
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