The focus of the data agenda today was China’s Caixin/S&P Global Services PMI for July, and it came in at a nice upside surprise. All this week t
The
focus of the data agenda today was China’s Caixin/S&P Global
Services PMI for July, and it came in at a nice upside surprise. All
this week the PMIs we’ve had from China for July have been a bit
disappointing:
The
Caixin Services PMI today though beat expectations easily and rose
from June. At 54.1 the index remained above the 50 mark that
separates expansion from contraction for the seventh month in a row.
Also
on the data docket were retail sales for Q2 from Australia. These
fell for the third quarter in a row and missed on the median
estimate. Morgan Stanley downgraded Australia to underweight (and downgraded China and Taiwan also, to neutral).
News
flow was very light with nothing
of impact.
FX
ranges were subdued with no notable moves.
Asian
equity markets:
-
Japan’s
Nikkei 225 -1.4% -
China’s
Shanghai Composite -0.2% -
Hong
Kong’s Hang Seng -0.2% -
South
Korea’s KOSPI -0.7% -
Australia’s
S&P/ASX 200 -0.5%
—
The Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee decision is due today, the consensus is for a 25bp rate hike. there are previews above.
Due at 1100 GMT, which is 0700 US Eastern time. Bank of England Governor Bailey speaks half an hour later.
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