Asia Stocks Signal Mixed Start Ahead of China Data: Markets Wrap

Adam Haigh, Bloomberg News

(Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks will likely start the week in a mixed fashion as traders assess the sustainability of last week’s relief rally ahead of a slew of Chinese economic figures.

Futures pointed to a marginally higher open for equities in Sydney, while Hong Kong shares indicated a slightly lower start. Japan is shut for a public holiday. Friday’s gain in U.S. stocks pushed the S&P 500 back above 2,800 as a pause in trade tensions outweighed a mixed start to earnings season. The yen is little changed after posting its biggest weekly slide since September.

Trade tensions eased somewhat last week as officials in Beijing appeared to moderate their response to President Donald Trump’s tariff threats amid a slowing economy, falling stock market and weakening currency. Data coming Monday, including GDP and industrial production and retail sales, will give the latest detail on China’s economy, while later this week investors expect Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to lay the groundwork for further tightening even as trade tensions create risks.

Terminal users can read more in Bloomberg’s Markets Live blog.

These are some key events coming up this week:

Economists forecast China will report second quarter GDP growth slowed to 6.7 percent from 6.8 percent in the previous quarter, a result that could underscore concerns that the trade spat with the U.S. is already starting to have an impact on the world’s biggest trading nation.
Earnings season continues with reports due from companies including: Bank of America, BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, American Express, Netflix, Microsoft, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, Unilever, Johnson & Johnson and IBM.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin hold their first summit together.
Fed’s Powell delivers the semi-annual Monetary Policy Report to the Senate Banking Committee and answers lawmakers’ questions.

And here are the main market moves:

Stocks

Futures on Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index slid 0.1 percent.
Futures on Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.1 percent.
The S&P 500 Index rose 0.1 percent Friday.

Currencies

The Japanese yen was little changed to 112.33 per dollar as of 6:56 a.m. in Tokyo.
The offshore yuan was flat at 6.7083 per dollar.
The euro was steady at $1.1690.
The British pound rose 0.1 percent to $1.3231.
The kiwi dollar climbed 0.2 percent to 67.63 U.S. cents.

Bonds