UK’s Economic Data Disappoints, Investors Focus On Earnings

 | Jul 14, 2020 06:09AM ET

European markets are trading flat as investors digest the economic data. The economic numbers out of the UK were very disappointing, and the fact is that things are likely to remain this way because of the possibility of a second coronavirus wave.

The S&P 500 and the Dow futures are also under the influence of the news that the Trump administration has escalated tensions on a new front with China. The relations between Washington and Beijing has been strained because of the territorial dispute in South China Sea. The US has rejected China’s claim in the South China Sea. Basically, the Trump administration has reversed the previous US policy of not taking sides in territorial disputes. Investors are largely concerned about this continuous escalation of tensions between the two major superpowers.

The global stock market had a negative trading session. The HSI index fell the most, it closed with a loss of 1.09%. The Shanghai and Japanese Nikkei also posted losses of 0.83% and 0.87% respectively.

h2 Oil Prices: OPEC+ May Taper Its Supply Cut /h2

The biggest question for oil traders is about the partnership between OPEC and Russia that resulted in curtailing the oil supply. How long this partnership will last and how will they address the upcoming expiry of this agreement are the two questions for traders. Looking at the sideway price action of WTI and Brent, it is clear that traders are not certain about the future of oil price but they are optimistic that the prices will not fall off the cliff like before. The expectations are that they will increase the supply by a small amount which could be somewhere around 2 million barrels b/d.

h2 Dow Jones And S&P 500 Futures Today/h2

The Dow futures are trading lower today as the stock market rally fatigue settles in. Overall, risk sentiment is taking a hit because investors have become cautious.

The Dow Jones index briefly crossed above the 50-day simple moving average on a daily time frame yesterday which is positive for the stock market rally. However, traders were quick in taking the profit off the table and this is why we did not close above this moving average yesterday. Overall, the Dow’s price looks solid because the DJIA’s index price is trading above the two important moving averages: 100 and 200-day SMA.