Asian markets may have crept a little higher in the week’s final session as anticipation that some progress in US-China trade relations may be seen at the G20 summit in Argentina, but this enthusiasm certainly isn’t being translated into US equities right now.
After Thursday’s lacklustre session, index futures are suggesting we’ll see a slightly softer start to the day and questions continue to mount over whether the Federal Reserve’s commitment to easing up on policy tightening can be pushed through any time soon.
Certainly an upbeat reading in the Chicago PMI print which is due shortly after the opening bell would add weight to the idea that the market still isn’t ready for the Fed to take its foot off the accelerator.
Chinese PMI data released overnight will do little to ease the conversation between Presidents Xi and Trump in Argentina. The manufacturing reading came in at just 50, reflecting the break-even point for this number and the lowest print recorded in over two and a half years. This number is further illustration of the damaging global effect of US trade policies and as the world economy slows, failure to be a little more accommodative here has real potential to tip stocks over the cliff edge.
Ahead of the open we’re calling the Dow down 39 at 25,300 and the S&P 500 down 4 at 2734.
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