What is it? There are 3 versions of GDP released a month apart – Preliminary, Second Estimate, and Final. The Preliminary release is the earliest and thus tends to have the most impact. It's the broadest measure of economic activity and the primary gauge of the economy's health.
When? At 4:30am Eastern Time.
Trading Tip: If the actual number is higher than the forecast, you can expect the GBP to rise.
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1) The dollar extended losses against a basket of other major currencies on Monday, despite positive U.S. data on durable goods orders, as sentiment on the greenback remained under pressure ahead of this week's policy statement by the Federal Reserve.
2) Wall Street began the week in the red on Monday and fell sharply on concerns about China's slowing growth in the wake of the biggest drop in Shanghai shares in eight years.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell to its lowest level in over five months while the Nasdaq composite was at a four-week low and the S&P 500 touched its lowest in more than two weeks.
3) U.S. natural gas prices turned higher after falling to a two-week low on Monday, as market players assessed the outlook for U.S. demand and supply levels.
4) Chinese shares slid more than 8 percent on Monday as an unprecedented government rescue plan to prop up valuations ran out of steam, throwing Beijing's efforts to stave off a deeper crash into doubt.
Major indexes suffered their largest one-day drop since 2007, shattering three weeks of relative calm in China's volatile stock markets since Beijing unleashed a barrage of support measures to arrest a slump that started in mid-June.
5) Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (ARCA:TEVA) has agreed to buy Allergan (NYSE:AGN_pa) Plc's generic drugs business for $40.5 billion in a cash and stock deal that will turn the Israeli company into one of the world's largest pharmaceutical firms.
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Another savage drop for China stocks is spreading plenty of investor anxiety on Monday.
The Shanghai Composite closed down 8.5%, leading a sea of red across markets in Asia and Europe. U.S. stock futures were lower in early trading.
1) China rout
Fears of a bigger crash in China stock markets are rising after Monday's plunge, a return of wild trading following two weeks of relative calm.
Beijing took a series of steps to stop a market rout in late June and early July - including cutting interest rates and suspending new IPOs - which appeared to be working, until Monday.
But fear has once again gripped investors in China.
"The extent of the sharp drop would appear to suggest that the Chinese economy is struggling to respond to the measures already implemented, raising wider concerns of a much sharper and deeper slowdown," said CMC markets analyst Michael Hewson.
The concern is that trouble in China -- the world's second largest economy -- will pull other major economies, like the U.S. down with it.
2) Commodities sell-off
Base metal prices were sharply lower, with copper and zinc both slumping by more than 2%. Oil extended its recent slide, shedding 0.6% to just below $48 a barrel, in electronic trading.
Falling commodity prices are a worrying signal about the global growth outlook. After years of insatiable appetite for raw materials, China's slowdown is playing a huge role in the demand picture.
3) Earnings & economics
Restaurant Brands International (QSR), which owns Burger King and Tim Hortons, is among the firms reporting ahead of the open.
This afternoon, another round of companies including Rent-A-Center (RCII), will report quarterly earnings.
On the economic front, the U.S. Census Bureau reports June durable goods orders at 8:30 a.m. ET. Orders were down in May mainly due to a drop in aircraft purchases, though other manufactured good sold well.
4) International markets
Jitters in China washed over to European markets in early moves.
Germany's DAX index dropped 1% despite an upbeat report on business sentiment. France's CAC index also shed 1%. The Greek stock market stayed shut as regulators try to figure out how to resume trading while financial transactions remain limited due to the country's debt crisis.
Asian markets ended deep in the red.
China's tech-heavy Shenzhen index plunged 7% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index tumbled 3.1%. Japan's Nikkei index closed down 1%.
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What is it? Orders for aircraft are volatile and can severely distort the underlying trend. The Core data is therefore thought to be a better gauge of purchase order trends. It's a leading indicator of production - rising purchase orders signal that manufacturers will increase activity as they work to fill the orders.
When? At 8:30am Eastern Time.
Trading Tip: If the actual number is higher than the forecast, you can expect the USD to rise.
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What is it? It's a leading indicator of economic health - businesses react quickly to market conditions, and changes in their sentiment can be an early signal of future economic activity such as spending, hiring, and investment. Survey of about 7,000 businesses which asks respondents to rate the relative level of current business conditions and expectations for the next 6 months.
When? At 4:00am Eastern Time.
Trading Tip: If the actual number is higher than the forecast, you can expect the EUR to rise.
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- Wall Street was set to open slightly lower on Friday with major indexes poised to end the week lower amid a mixed bag of earnings from big companies and the downward spiral of commodity prices.
Amazon.com (O:AMZN) shares jumped 21.5 percent to $585.64 in premarket trading, a day after the online retailer posted an unexpected quarterly profit.
- The dollar remain higher against a basket of other major currencies on Friday, as data showing that U.S. jobless claims fell to the lowest level since 1973 continued to support the greenback and as investors eyed additional U.S. reports due later in the day.
- Gold prices tumbled to a fresh five-year low in European morning hours on Friday, as data showing that U.S. jobless claims fell to the lowest level since 1973 and positive news from Greece weighed on the safe-haven metal.
- Crude oil futures rose on Friday, easing off the previous session's seven-month low but still remained under the $50 mark as concerns over a global supply glut continued to weigh heavily on the commodity.
- American Airlines Group Inc (O:AAL) on Friday reported second-quarter profit that topped analysts' expectations and declared a stock buyback and dividend as cheap fuel continued to benefit its bottom line.
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Get ready for a busy Friday.
1) Premarket movers
Amazon, Visa, Starbucks: Amazon (AMZN, Tech30) shares bolted up by about 18% in extended trading after it released better-than-expected earnings on Thursday.
If the shares hold onto those gains at the open, Amazon's market capitalization could trounce Wal-Mart's (WMT), making it the biggest retailer by value in the world.
Shares in Visa (V) look set for a 5% pop at the open after its earnings beat analyst forecasts. And Starbucks (SBUX) shares are up about 4% premarket after reporting earning Thursday afternoon.
But disappointing results from TripAdvisor (TRIP) sent its stock tumbling, down about 9% in extended trading.
In London, Pearson (PSO) shares are rising by about 3% after the publishing company reported half-year results. The company is also selling its Financial Times Group, which owns the eponymous business newspaper.
2) M&A movers
Anthem (ANTX) is reportedly expected to announce a multi-billion dollar bid to take over Cigna (CI) on Friday. It's expected the company will offer $188 per share. The health insurance sector is going through a shake up as Obamacare pressures company profits.
Just three weeks ago, Aetna (AET) reached a $34 billion deal to buy Humana (HUM).
3) More earnings and economic data
Quarterly earnings are expected from companies including American Airlines (AAL), Spirit Airlines (SAVE) and Xerox (XRX) before the market opens.
On the economic side, the U.S. Census Bureau will report new home sales data for June at 10 a.m. ET. Numbers from May showed home sales were at their highest level since 2008.
4) Global stock market overview
U.S. stock futures are edging up a bit and European markets are broadly in positive territory in early trading
However, Asian markets ended the week with losses as investors react to some disappointing economic data.
An early reading of China's manufacturing activity for the month of July came in below analyst expectations. At 48.2, the flash reading was the lowest in 15 months, and indicates that factories in the world's second-largest economy are losing momentum.
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What is it? It's a leading indicator of economic health - businesses react quickly to market conditions, and their purchasing managers hold perhaps the most current and relevant insight into the company's view of the economy. Survey of about 500 purchasing managers which asks respondents to rate the relative level of business conditions including employment, production, new orders, prices, supplier deliveries, and inventories.
When? At 3:30am Eastern Time.
Trading Tip: If the actual number is higher than the forecast, you can expect the EUR to rise.
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What is it? It's a leading indicator of economic health - businesses react quickly to market conditions, and their purchasing managers hold perhaps the most current and relevant insight into the company's view of the economy. Survey of about 400 purchasing managers which asks respondents to rate the relative level of business conditions including employment, production, new orders, prices, supplier deliveries, and inventories.
When? At 3:00am Eastern Time.
Trading Tip: If the actual number is higher than the forecast, you can expect the EUR to rise.
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1. The dollar remained at one-week lows against a basket of other major currencies on Thursday, despite data showing that U.S. jobless claims fell to the lowest level since November 1973 last week, as progress on the Greek debt front supported demand for riskier assets.
The U.S. Department of Labor reported on Thursday that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending July 18 fell by 26,000 to 255,000 from the previous week’s total of 281,000. Analysts had expected initial jobless claims to fall by 1,000 to 280,000 last week.
2. The Nasdaq composite edged up on Thursday after two days of losses, while the S&P 500 and Dow were lower on weak earnings from bellwethers such as 3M (N:MMM) and Caterpillar (N:CAT).
3) Japan's Nikkei has agreed to buy the FT Group, publisher of the Financial Times newspaper, from Britain's Pearson (L:PSON) for 844 million pounds ($1.31 billion) in cash, the two companies said on Thursday.
4) Natural gas futures briefly extended gains to hit a five-week high on Thursday before turning lower after data showed that U.S. natural gas supplies rose less than expected last week.
5) West Texas Intermediate oil futures rebounded from the previous session\'s steep declines on Thursday, but prices held below the $50-level amid ongoing concerns over a global supply glut.
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It's another big day for earnings.
1) Earnings tsunami
Get ready to be hit by a wall of summer earnings reports.
Companies reporting before the trading day begins include McDonald's (MCD), 3M (MMM), Caterpillar (CAT), Comcast (CCV), General Motors (GM), Dunkin Brands (DNKN), Southwest Airlines (LUV), Dr. Pepper (DPS), Under Armour (UA) and Eli Lilly (LLY).
Companies reporting after the market closes include Starbucks (SBUX), AT&T (T, Tech30), Amazon (AMZN, Tech30), Capital One (COF), TripAdvisor (TRIP) and Visa (V).
U.S. stock futures were holding steady ahead of the deluge of results.
2) Movers
American Express, Qualcomm, SanDisk, Credit Suisse: Shares for American Express (AXP) and Qualcomm (QCOM, Tech30) are both slipping by about 2% in extended trading after releasing lackluster quarterly earnings Wednesday. Qualcomm also announced plans to lay off 15% of its workers.
SanDisk (SNDK) is seeing a 13% boost in its share price premarket after it reported earnings per share that were double analysts' expectations.
In Europe, shares in Credit Suisse (CS) were rising by about 5% after the bank reported better-than-expected results.
3) Economics
The U.S. Department of Labor is reporting weekly unemployment claims data at 8:30 a.m. ET.
As it stands now, initial and continuing unemployment claims are at the lowest levels seen in roughly 15 years.
4) International markets and commodities
European markets are broadly positive in early trading, though the moves have been muted.
Greece passed a number of new economic reforms overnight, clearing the way for detailed negotiations to begin on a new bailout package worth as much as 86 billion euros ($94.5 billion).
Asian markets ended with mixed results.
Commodities remain in focus. Gold and oil are inching back up after recent sharp losses.
Crude prices have dropped from a recent high of $61.43 to trade around $49.50 per barrel. Crude futures were trading 0.5% higher.
Gold prices are up 1% this morning, but are still trading at five-year lows.
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What is it? It's a leading indicator of economic health - businesses react quickly to market conditions, and their purchasing managers hold perhaps the most current and relevant insight into the company's view of the economy. Survey of about 430 purchasing managers which asks respondents to rate the relative level of business conditions including employment, production, new orders, prices, supplier deliveries, and inventories.
When? At 9:45pm Eastern Time.
Trading Tip: If the actual number is higher than the forecast, you can expect the CNY to rise.
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What is it? A positive number indicates that more goods were exported than imported. Export demand and currency demand are directly linked because foreigners must buy the domestic currency to pay for the nation's exports. Export demand also impacts production and prices at domestic manufacturers.
When? At 6:45pm Eastern Time.
Trading Tip: If the actual number is higher than the forecast, you can expect the NZD to rise.
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What is it? This is the nation's earliest economic data. The market impact fluctuates from week to week - there tends to be more focus on the release when traders need to diagnose recent developments, or when the reading is at extremes. Although it's generally viewed as a lagging indicator, the number of unemployed people is an important signal of overall economic health because consumer spending is highly correlated with labor-market conditions. Unemployment is also a major consideration for those steering the country's monetary policy.
When? At 8:30am Eastern Time.
Trading Tip: If the actual number is higher than the forecast, you can expect the USD to rise.
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