Asia – NZ Data Stars

With tensions easing somewhat in Korea, Asian indices this morning are mostly flirting with the zero from above, save the Nikkei (0%), and the Shenzhen Composite (-0.07%).

In its summary of opinions last night, the Bank of Japan said that the ongoing pandemic is likely to continue pressuring the economy severely and hoped its current aid package would suffice to increase GDP by 6.4% and maintain inflation at 2%.

The New Zealand Dollar is down 0.4% after the central bank decided to maintain its current policy and interest rate.

Europe – PMIs Rebound

European equities yesterday had a good day, the Italian FTSE gaining 1.86%and Switzerland lagging with a mere 0.94% rise.

Preliminary PMIs throughout Europe show June in a marked improvement though still contracting – most in the high 40s after 3 months of COVID-induced pressure, pushing up the Euro by 0.03%. British manufacturing even crept into expansionary territory with a green 50.1.

Americas – New Homes Selling

The US Manufacturing PMI also came close to the watershed 50 yesterday, missing it by 4 ticks.

New home sales also exceeded expectations with a 16.6% increase to 0.676 mn units – more than 10 times the April figure.

Indexes all closed in the green yesterday, led by the Nasdaq’s 0.74% increase.

Commodities – Oil Hits Bump

Oil lost a half percent during the Asian session, bringing it to $40.15 for a single barrel of West Texas Intermediate Blend, this after the API reported another 1.74 million barrel increase in inventories.

Meanwhile, gold continues upwards, closing the Asian session at $1783.70 per troy ounce.

Corporate – J&J to Pay 2.5 Billion

Johnson & Johnson closed down a third yesterday after losing an appeal to pay $2.12 bn damages – half the original claim – to women blaming the company for their ovarian cancer.

Carnival Cruises is up 4.29% after S&P Global Ratings downgraded the company’s credit rating from investment grade – this a month after Moody’s cut them to junk. The company has extended its cruise freeze into the Fall.

Today, prepare for dividends from Deutsche Telekom (+2.11%).

And GNC (-6.9%) yesterday filed for bankruptcy.

Events