Futures Edge Higher, Global Markets Mixed, Trade Uncertainty Reaches New Highs

The U.S. Futures Are Edging Higher In Early Monday Trading

The U.S. futures market is indicating a higher open for the major indexes on Monday morning. The moves are small but show some optimism after a weekend of conflicting news. Reports the White House would move to block investment into Chinese companies was later countered by an official statement that no, the White House was not considering such a move. This morning, trade advisor Peter Navarro called the early reports “fake news”. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up about 0.25% in early trading, the S&P 500 is a notch higher at 0.30% and the NASDAQ Composite is in the lead with a gain of 0.45%.

In stock news, Thor Industries missed revenue estimates but delivered a whopping beat on the bottom line. The company reports EPS of $1.67 beats by $0.27 due to strengths in the U.S. and EU RV markets. Egg producer Cal-Maine says egg revenue rose 1.7% in the fiscal first quarter but still fell shy of estimates. Despite the miss, the company reports better than expected EPS but shares are down -4.5% anyway. On the economic front, this week is the end of the month which means the monthly labor data is due out. This will include ADP, Challenger, and the Non-Farm Payrolls report.

EU Markets Are Flat And Mixed, Trade Is In Focus

The EU markets are flat and mixed after the latest round of trade talks. The CAC is in the lead with a gain of 0.18%, the FTSE lags with a loss of -0.14%, and the DAX is in the middle at 0.10%. The U.S. and China are still expected to hold meetings in China on October 10 but no deal is expected. The materials sector is in the lead with a gain of 1.1% while F&B has shed -0.5%.

In local news, UK PM Boris Johnson says he will not resign from his position even if he fails to secure a new deal. He says his ruling conservative party is the only one that can guide the UK through an October 31 hard-Brexit. UK GDP came in at -0.2%. The decline was as expected and came with a sigh of relief from traders.

Asian Markets Are Mixed, China Data Better Than Expected

The Asian markets are mixed if a bit more volatile than other global markets. News from China is good if still weak and has the Chinese-centric indices moving in opposite directions. The official Chinese PMI came in at 49.8 and 0.3 better than expected. A reading below 50 is contractionary so the news isn’t as good as it could be. On the other hand, the Caixin PMI of small-cap companies rose to 51.4 and 1.2 ahead of consensus. The Japanese Nikkei is down -0.56%, the Shanghai is down -0.29%, the Hang Seng is up about 0.55%, the ASX is down -0.41%, and the Kospi up 0.64%.