The end of the week will bring with it a flood of PMI reports to gaude the condition of the global economy.
First off, Australia published its flash PMIs for July. Manufacturing was slightly lower than last time, while the services sector dropped below 50 to 44.2, more than 10 basis points lower than the previous month.
In Germany, all PMI flash numbers - manufacturing, services, and composite were better than the forecasts, and all numbers were in healthy territory above 60 points. The same applies to the eurozone’s composite and manufacturing PMI data also published today.
The United Kingdom, on the other hand, disappointed investors on all counts. All three flash PMIs were worse than expected. However, the United Kingdom also published a better than anticipated retail sales report and a slightly better consumer confidence index for July, so it was not all bad news.
Later in the day we are going to get the retail sales report for May from Canada and the manufacturing PMI flash number for July from the United States.
Today stocks are doing well, despite the fears that the spread of the delta variant of Covid-19 is causing. US stock indices are going to end the week well due to the overall positive earnings season that is still ongoing. Twitter and Snap both performed very well, which is making investors optimistic about Facebook and Google, which are going to report next week.
Commodity markets are also excited, with coffee futures in particular still increasing in value. According to the reports, coffee crops in Brazil, the world’s largest producer, may be lower due to an atypically cold season damaging coffee plants.
