US Markets U.S. stock futures were down over the weekend, an indication that markets may slow down at the start of August, following a strong July. - Activision Blizzard, Devon Energy, and Loews, are among the companies set to report earnings today.
- Later this week, major earning reports to look out for include Uber, Caterpillar, Starbucks, Eli Lilly, and Amgen.
- The current 10 Year U.S. Treasury yield is set at 2.67300%
| Dow Jones | 32,845.13 | 0.97% | | S&P 500 | 4,130.29 | 1.42% | | Nasdaq | 12,390.69 | 1.88% | | Russell 2000 | 1,885.23 | 0.65% | *Stock Market data as of the last closing bell. Data received directly from the references indexes through ICE Data Services. Do you not understand any of these figures? Check out our explainer.
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Market Insight New GDP data released last week showed that the U.S. economy contracted 0.9% in Q2, marking the second consecutive quarter of economic decline. Despite this, it's unclear if the U.S. has officially entered a recession. - While the standard economic definition of a recession is at least two consecutive quarters of negative growth, the final arbiter is the National Bureau of Economic Research's Business Cycle Dating Committee (NBER).
- NBER defines a recession as a significant decline in economic activity spread across the economy that lasts more than a few months.
- Surprisingly, NBER doesn't consider GDP a major indicator of economic activity. In 2001, it declared a recession after just one-quarter of negative GDP growth as other economic factors indicated widespread activity declines.
- While NBER declared a recession every time GDP has fallen for two consecutive quarters since 1948, given the strong jobs market, some analysts believe the agency may not find that the U.S. economy is currently in decline.
- Furthermore, consumer spending and business investment are both growing. Overall, a holistic view of the economy does not show signs of a recession.
- Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell last week said he does not believe the U.S. is in a true recession and even questioned the accuracy of GDP data showing an economic decline.
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Canadian Markets Economic data from May and June show that the Canadian economy is stalled despite growth in some industries. - Data from Statistics Canada shows that economic output was unchanged from April to May and up 0.1% from May to June.
- The agency says that from February to April, the economy grew at an annualized rate of 4.6%.
- Economists forecast that Canada's economy will grow by 2% annually in H2 2022.
*Canadian stock prices are as of the last close. Data received directly from the references indexes through ICE Data Services
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European Markets European stocks had their best month since November 2020 in July as investors reacted positively to earnings and economic data. - In July, the Stoxx 600 gained 6.3%.
- The European Union's GDP increased by 0.7% last month, beating expectations of 0.2% growth.
- The Stoxx 600 was up 1.3% on Friday, led by gas stocks, which gained 2.9%. Healthcare, which lost 0.4%, was the only industry down on the day.
| Euro STOXX 50 | 3,708.10 | 1.53% | | UK (FTSE 100) | 7,423.43 | 1.06% | | Germany (DAX) | 13,484.05 | 1.52% | | France (CAC 40) | 6,448.50 | 1.72% | *European stock prices are as of 7 am ET. Data received directly from the references indexes through ICE Data Services.
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Asian Markets Stocks are mixed on Monday morning in Asia as investors await new data from China. - China's Purchasing Manager's Index reached 49 in July, below the 50.4 expected by analysts and the 50.2 recorded in June. Anything below 50 shows declining economic activity.
- Private survey data of Chinese factory activity is expected to be released later today.
- The U.S. on Friday added Alibaba to a list of companies that may be delisted from U.S. markets. Alibaba shares in the U.S. fell 11% after the announcement and the company's Hong Kong-listed shares are expected to fall on Monday.
| S&P Asia 50 | 4,610.04 | -2.07% | | Japan (Nikkei 225) | 27,834.91 | 0.12% | | South Korea (KOSPI) | 2,453.18 | 0.07% | | China (Hang Seng) | 20,156.51 | -2.26% | | India (SENSEX) | 57,570.25 | 1.25% | *Asian stock prices are as of 7 am ET. Data received directly from the references indexes through ICE Data Services.
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Commodities Gas prices were up on Friday and over the weekend as it is becoming more evident that OPEC+ will not be increasing supply in the coming months. - Brent crude was up 2.5%, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude gained 3.4% on Friday.
- Despite the increase, Brent crude was down 4.6% in July and U.S. West Texas Intermediate lost 6.8%.
- Analysts don't expect OPEC+ to raise supply as many member countries have struggled to hit their output targets.
| Oil (NYSEARCA:OIL) | 33.40 | 0.51% | | Gold (NYSEARCA:GLD) | 164.10 | 0.28% | | Silver (NYSEARCA:SLV) | 18.70 | 1.47% | | Corn (NYSEARCA:CORN) | 25.00 | 0.77% | | Lumber (NASDAQ:WOOD) | 79.21 | 0.94% | *Commodity prices are as of 7 am ET. Data from MarketWatch. To understand why investors track the prices of these commodities, click here.
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Currency Exchange Rates The British Pound was down significantly on Friday, and has continued its downward momentum over the weekend and into Monday. - The decrease in global risk sentiment has hurt the Euro and the Pound as both deal with political instability.
- New data from the Bank of England shows that consumer lending in the country rose last month at its fastest rate in three years.
- The number of mortgage approvals in the U.K. was down last month to the lowest level in two years.
| UK(GBP) | £0.82 | -0.12% | | Europe (EURO) | €0.98 | -0.05% | | Canada (Canadian Dollar) | $1.28 | 0.01% | | Japan (Yen) | ¥132.26 | -0.74% | *Exchange rates as of 7 am ET. Data from Morningstar Financial Research. To understand why we track these currencies and the differences between them, click here.
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 |  | Liam Gill is a founder, lawyer and investor.
He previously founded Fumarii Technologies, which became a top 20 ranked cloud computing service (Yahoo Finance! 2019) valued at over $30M. He holds an LLB Laws (UK), MSc Management and Master of Laws and currently practices law at Zargar Lawyers + Business Strategists in Vancouver, Canada.
|   | | Editor | Eduardo Garcia is a writer and editor based in New York. He is the author of "Things You Can Do," an illustrated book about climate action. Bylines in The New York Times, The Guardian, Slate, Scientific American, and others. In one of his previous lives, Eduardo worked as a Reuters correspondent in Latin America for nearly a decade. | |
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