1) Wall Street was lower on the first trading day in August as oil prices touched a six-month low and data showed U.S. economy lost some momentum at the end of the second quarter.

2) Oil prices hit six-month lows earlier in the day, knocked by fresh evidence of growing oversupply and data highlighting slowing demand in China, leaving crude prices on course for their weakest third-quarter performance since the financial crisis in 2008.

3) The euro backed off session lows against the dollar on Monday following the release of lackluster data on U.S. manufacturing activity and consumer spending.

EUR/USD was last at 1.0980, up from lows of 1.0941.

4) Greece's stock market closed with heavy losses on Monday after a five-week shutdown brought on by fears the country was about to be dumped from the euro zone.

Bank shares fell 30 percent before loss-limits kicked in to stop investors selling any more.

5) U.S. natural gas prices edged higher on Monday, but held near the previous session's three-week low as forecasts for mild weather across the U.S. in the weeks ahead dampened demand expectations for the fuel.

6) U.S. consumer spending in June advanced at its slowest pace in four months as demand for automobiles softened, suggesting the economy lost some momentum at the end of the second quarter.

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Exxon Mobil Corp., the biggest and richest U.S. oil company, reported a 52% drop in profit for its second quarter, as higher profit from its refining and chemical operations couldn’t offset plunging earnings in its exploration and production business amid lower crude prices. Shares of Exxon Mobil, down 16% over the past year, fell 1.8% to $81.50 in premarket trading.

The International Monetary Fund is participating fully in the ongoing talks for a new bailout program for Greece, a spokeswoman for the European Commission said on Friday, dismissing reports the IMF could be abandoning the rescue plan. The talks on a new bailout program are ongoing "with the IMF present and fully participating in the talks in Athens," Commission spokeswoman Mina Andreeva told journalists in Brussels.

Commodities and China investors waved a relieved goodbye to July on Friday following a brutal sell-off that has revived fears about the global economy and overshadowed more encouraging news from the U.S. and Europe.

There were signs that the rout wasn't over yet as Chinese stocks - which have suffered their worst monthly drop in six years - wobbled again, oil prices slipped following a more than 15 percent July slump and metals from industrial copper to precious gold hit multi-year lows.

U.S. stocks edged up on Friday as historically low wage growth supported the view that the Fed could delay the timing of a rate increase.

The Dow Jones industrial average (DJI) rose 10.96 points, or 0.06 percent, to 17,756.94, the S&P 500 (SPX) gained 2.98 points, or 0.14 percent, to 2,111.61 and the Nasdaq composite (IXIC) added 12.37 points, or 0.24 percent, to 5,141.16.

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1) The U.S. economy rebounded in the second quarter, bouncing back after labor disputes at West Coast shipping ports led to lackluster growth in the first three months of the year. U.S. gross domestic product, the broadest measure of goods and services produced across the economy, grew at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2.3 percent in the April-June quarter, the Commerce Department said in its preliminary estimate Thursday. 

2) Facebook Inc's (O:FB) plans to focus spending on its two messaging services, Instagram and its virtual reality headset business was cheered by Wall Street analysts, who said the efforts would boost long-term growth. Of the 50 brokerages covering the stock, at least 20 raised their price targets. Piper Jaffray was the most bullish with a $146 target - 50 percent over Facebook's Wednesday close of $96.99. The median price target is $110.

3) Crude oil futures edged higher on Thursday, amid indications that Saudi Arabia could cut production at the end of the summer and following a larger than expected drawdown in U.S. supplies last week. On the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil for September delivery tacked on 37 cents, or 0.69%, to trade at $53.75 a barrel during European morning hours.

4) Procter & Gamble Co (N:PG), the world's largest consumer products maker, reported its sixth straight fall in quarterly sales, as the stronger dollar continued to weigh on the value of sales from overseas markets. Shares of the maker of Pampers diapers and Tide detergent were down marginally at $80.43 on Thursday.

5) Time Warner Cable Inc (N:TWC), which is being bought by Charter Communications (O:CHTR), reported lower-than-expected revenue for five quarters in a row as it lost about 45,000 residential video customers. Cable companies have been struggling with declining subscriber numbers as viewers shift to cheaper and more flexible streaming services offered by Netflix Inc (O:NFLX), Amazon.com Inc (O:AMZN), Hulu and others.

6) Natural gas futures extended losses on Thursday, despite data showing that U.S. natural gas supplies rose less than expected last week.

Natural gas for delivery in September on the New York Mercantile Exchange tumbled 5.4 cents, or 1.9%, to trade at $2.809 per million British thermal units during U.S. morning hours after hitting a daily peak of $2.882 earlier, the most since July 23. Prices were at around $2.821 prior to the release of the supply data.

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The Dow Jones industrial average and the S&P 500 were slightly higher on Wednesday while the Nasdaq composite edged lower, as investors assessed earning ahead of a statement from the U.S. Federal Reserve that could give clues regarding the timing of a rate hike.

Pending home sales in the U.S. fell unexpectedly in June, dampening optimism over the health of the housing sector, industry data showed on Wednesday. In a report, the National Association of Realtors said its pending home sales index fell by a seasonally adjusted 1.8% last month, disappointing expectations for a gain of 1.0%. Pending home sales in May rose by 0.6%, whose figure was revised down from a previously reported gain of 0.9%.

The dollar remained moderately higher against the other major currencies on Wednesday, even after data showed that U.S. pending home sales unexpectedly fell in June, as investors awaited the Federal Reserve’s rate statement later in the day. EUR/USD was down 0.22% at 1.1034, holding below Monday’s two-week highs of 1.1128.

The euro remained modestly lower against the dollar on Wednesday after data showed that U.S. pending home sales unexpectedly fell in June, snapping five months of gains, as investors awaited the upcoming Federal Reserve rate statement.

Credit and debit card issuer MasterCard Inc (N:MA) reported lower-than-expected quarterly revenue as the company offered more rebates and incentives to win new and renewed deals.

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1) U.S. consumer confidence deteriorated unexpectedly in July, dampening optimism over the health of the economy, industry data showed on Tuesday.

In a report, the Conference Board, a market research group, said its index of consumer confidence tumbled to 90.9 this month from a reading of 99.8 in June, whose figure was revised from a previously reported 101.4. Analysts expected the index to rise to 100.0 in July.

2) The euro pulled back from session lows against the dollar on Tuesday as data showing that U.S. consumer confidence deteriorated this month tempered expectations for higher interest rates.

3) U.S. natural gas prices extended gains from the previous session on Tuesday, as investors bet a heat wave making its way across the eastern U.S. will prompt households to ramp up their air conditioning.

4) U.S. homeownership dropped to a record low in the second quarter as more Americans opted to rent, data showed on Tuesday.

The seasonally adjusted home ownership rate fell to 63.5 percent, the lowest since the government started tracking the series, the Commerce Department said. The rate, which peaked at 69.4 percent in 2004, was 63.8 percent in the first quarter.

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