Asian stocks fell, British pound rose; Key financial events coming up this week 

Asian stocks fell as mixed economic data in China failed to allay concern about the world’s second largest economy’s ability to the withstand the impact of the trade dispute. Crude slid and the yen traded near the weakest level since January.

Equities from Sydney to Shanghai dropped, while those in Hong Kong recouped losses during the morning. Volumes were down in most markets with Japan shut for a public holiday. The yen held its recent losses after posting its biggest weekly slide in 10 months. Oil fell below $71 a barrel amid speculation the Trump administration is considering tapping into emergency crude supplies. U.S. equity futures ticker higher after Friday’s gains pushed the S&P 500 back above 2,800, with a pause in trade tensions outweighing a mixed start to the earnings season.

Trade tensions have eased somewhat 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 Monday showed China’s economic expansion slowed down slightly from the previous quarter, with industrial output in June missing estimates. Later this week investors expect Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to lay the groundwork for further tightening.

These are some key events coming up this week:

• 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

• Hang Seng slid 0.2 percent as of 12:22 p.m. in Hong Kong, having slipped as much as 0.7 percent earlier. Hang Seng China Enterprises Index down 0.7 percent.
• Shanghai Composite declined 0.5 percent.
• South Korea’s Kospi index slipped 0.2 percent.
• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 0.5 percent.
• Futures on the S&P 500 Index were up 0.1 percent. The underlying gauge rose 0.1 percent Friday.

Currencies

• The Japanese yen slid 0.1 percent to 112.48 per dollar.
• The offshore yuan rose 0.1 percent to 6.7083 per dollar.
• The euro was little changed at $1.1684.
• The British pound rose 0.1 percent to $1.3240.
• The kiwi dollar climbed 0.2 percent to 67.67 U.S. cents.

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries dipped two basis points to 2.83 percent Friday.
• Australian 10-year government bond yields were steady at 2.63 percent.

Commodities

• West Texas Intermediate crude declined 0.6 percent to $70.60 a barrel.
• Gold fell 0.1 percent to $1,243.64 an ounce.

Source: Bloomberg – Asia Stocks Decline Amid Mixed China Economic Data: Markets Wrap

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