Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: +4.00. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +101.00. The S&P 500 futures currently trade four points above fair value. 

Equity indices in the Asia-Pacific region had a mixed finish to the week with South Korea's Kospi (+2.4%) rising to a three-week high. Fitch expects to see modest growth in China's insurances sector for the remainder of the year amid some regulatory support. A former Japanese currency diplomat Furusawa said that the Bank of Japan plans another 50-75 basis points of rate hikes, adding that another U.S. intervention is possible if the yen returns to this year's low against the dollar. Australia's Prime Minister Albanese said that he appealed to President Trump to exempt Australia from additional tariffs.

• In economic data:
  • China's July New Loans -CNY340.0 bln (expected -CNY50.0 bln; last CNY1.61 trln), July Total Social Financing CNY1.41 trln (expected CNY1.20 trln; last CNY3.36 trln)
  • Hong Kong's Q2 GDP -0.6% qtr/qtr, as expected (last -0.6%); 4.3% yr/yr, as expected (last 4.3%)
  • Australia's Q2 Home Loans -1.9% qtr/qtr (last -3.5%)
  • New Zealand's July Business PMI 54.3 (last 60.1)
  • India's July WPI Inflation 9.78% yr/yr (expected 9.95%; last 9.87%)

---Equity Markets---

• Japan's Nikkei: +0.6% 
• Hong Kong's Hang Seng: -1.1%
• China's Shanghai Composite: UNCH 
• India's Sensex: -0.1% 
• South Korea's Kospi: +2.4%
• Australia's ASX All Ordinaries: -0.7% 

Major European indices trade near their flat lines while Germany's DAX (+0.8%) outperforms with SAP and Rheinmetall contributing to the strength. In the U.K., Reform leader Farage won a by election in Clacton, which was expected. Russia's Foreign Minister Lavrov said that an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine is not realistic.

• In economic data:
  • Eurozone's flash Q2 GDP 0.4% qtr/qtr, as expected (last 0.0%); 1.0% yr/yr, as expected (last 0.5%). Q2 Employment Change 0.1% qtr/qtr, as expected (last 0.1%); 0.5% yr/yr (expected 0.6%; last 0.5%). June trade surplus EUR8.6 bln (expected deficit of EUR2.2 bln; last deficit of EUR9.0 bln)
  • Germany's July WPI 0.2% m/m (expected -0.2%; last -0.7%); 5.3% yr/yr (last 4.9%)
  • France's July CPI 0.6% m/m, as expected (last -0.3%); 2.1% yr/yr, as expected (last 1.8%).
  • Swiss Q2 GDP 1.5% qtr/qtr (last 0.7%)

---Equity Markets---

• STOXX Europe 600: UNCH
• Germany's DAX: +0.9% 
• U.K.'s FTSE 100: UNCH 
• France's CAC 40: +0.1%
• Italy's FTSE MIB: UNCH 
• Spain's IBEX 35: +0.1%