By Nell Mackenzie
LONDON (Reuters) -Wall Street futures were little changed on Monday, as investors prepared for a busy week that will see the release of a key inflation report, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s testimony and the start of the second-quarter earnings season.
Investors took Friday’s jobs report as adding to the case for a September rate cut from the Federal Reserve, with futures now implying a 77% chance of a move.
S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures were both nearly flat. Earnings season kicks off Friday when Citigroup, JP Morgan and Well Fargo all report.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell will have a chance to offer his outlook when he appears before Congress on Tuesday and Wednesday, while several other Fed officials are speaking this week.
Another main economic event this week promises to be the U.S. consumer price report on Thursday, where headline inflation is expected to slow to 3.1%, from 3.3%, with the core measure seen steady at 3.4%.
It could be a crucial week for financial markets, said Bruno Schneller, managing director at Erlen Capital Management.
“We are on the cusp of several key economic reports that could significantly influence Federal Reserve policy. The June CPI report is particularly in focus, anticipated to continue the trend of moderating inflation with a headline increase of just 0.1% MoM,” said Schneller.
German inflation figures are also out on Thursday, while China will release data on both consumer prices and trade this week.
In London trade, 10-year U.S. Treasury yields were up around 4 bps at 4.31% on Monday, having been as high as 4.49% early last week.
Europe’s region-wide STOXX 600 and the CAC 40 in Paris were up about 0.4% and 0.3% respectively, after early falls. While the German rose 0.4% and the UK’s was up about 0.3%.
FRENCH SURPRISE
In France, a leftist alliance unexpectedly took top spot ahead of the far right in Sunday’s election, a major upset that was set to prevent Marine Le Pen’s National Rally from running the government.
The weaker than expected showing for the far right was something of a relief for investors, though they also have concerns the left’s plans could unwind many of President Emmanuel Macron’s pro-market reforms.
“Depending on gridlock configurations, French equity valuations could still de-rate by up to 5%,” said a note from Citi.
The single currency steadied at $1.0830, having been as high as $1.0843 on Friday when a soft U.S. jobs report undermined the dollar.
The euro steadied against the yen at 174.29. The dollar stood firm at 160.94 yen, off last week’s top of 161.86.
The closely-watched 10-year yield spread between French and German government bonds dropped one basis point (bp) to around 64 bps, its narrowest since June 13, but widened in later trading.
Mainland China and Hong Kong stocks ended lower in early London trading, with a key index logging its fifth straight losing session. Investors were disappointed by a lack of policy stimulus measures amid a weak economic recovery, rising geopolitical tensions and foreign outflows.
China’s bond yields rose as the central bank launched new money market operations to increase its market liquidity.
In commodity markets, gold fell from near one-month highs in earlier trading to stand down 0.7% at $2,374 an ounce. [GOL/]
Oil prices turned lower as the market waited to see what impact Hurricane Beryl might have on supplies from the Gulf of Mexico. Brent fell 66 cents to $85.88 a barrel, while U.S. crude dropped 85 cents to $82.31 per barrel. [O/R]
(Reporting by Nell Mackenzie; Editing by Dhara Ranasinghe, Sherry Jacob-Phillips, Mark Potter and Christina Fincher)
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