India’s wonderfully named Nifty 50 was a shining light in an otherwise dour Asian session, rising 3.30% as it continues to bask in the afterglow of the massive corporate tax cuts announced last Friday.
The news wasn’t so good for the rest of Asia, with Japan on holiday, the Shanghai Comp fell 1.20%, and the Hang Seng fell 0.80% as markets fretted over trade on an otherwise quiet day.
The mood deepened as Europe arrived with Netherland’s Q2 GDP YoY printing a below-consensus 1.80% before Germany and France administered the coup de gras. Both countries PMI’s printed massively below consensus. German Manufacturing PMI came in at 41.4 (exp 44.0), and Services PMI fell to 52.5 (exp 43.5). Not to be outdone Frances Manufacturing PMI sank to 50.5 (exp 51.2) and Services PMI fell to 51.3 (exp 52.7).
With more concrete signs that Europe is indeed the new “English Patient,” the Euro proceeded directly to jail without passing go. The single currency fell 50 points through 1.1000 to 1.0975. Longer-term technical support is still some way off at 1.0925. A break below there implying a move to 1.0825 and the ire of President Trump’s social media account.
European shares are unsurprisingly a sea of red today post data, with the German Dax falling 1.40% and the French CAC 40 lower by 1.0%.
The United Kingdom hasn’t escaped the fall-out with the collapse of Thomas Cook and no Brexit breakthrough weighing on the Sterling with the GBP falling another 40 points to 1.2425 in early London. Technical support is at 1.2385 with a break likely to see more Brexit optimism positioning washed away.
The UK FTSE 100 is 0.50% lower testing support at 7290.0 with a break implying a move possibly as low as 7200.0 over the coming days.