10 Things You Need To Know Before The Opening Bell
Aug 23, 2013, 16:57 IST
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- Markets in Asia were mixed in overnight trading. The Japanese Nikkei 225 rose 2.2%, the Hong Kong Hang Seng fell 0.2%, and the Shanghai Composite fell 0.5%. European markets are mixed, with London and Germany trading slightly higher and France, Italy, and Spain all down a bit. In the United States, futures point to a slightly lower open.
- This week, investors redeemed the most money from U.S. equity funds in five years. Globally, equity funds saw their first outflows in eight weeks, totaling $12.3 billion. $10 billion of those outflows were from the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (ticker symbol "SPY") alone. Bond funds saw redemptions as well as investors moved back into cash.
- NASDAQ released a statement following the unprecedented shutdown that halted trading in all NASDAQ-listed securities yesterday afternoon, but it didn't tell us much new information. The exchange said that the issues that caused the trading halt were resolved in the first 30 minutes of the halt, and the rest of the time was spent coordinating with other exchanges to reopen trading.
- The Kansas City Fed's annual Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium is in full swing today. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, ECB President Mario Draghi, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, and several FOMC members will not be in attendance this year, so the conference's significance to the markets has been substantially reduced. However, for those interested in monetary policy, the conference is still loaded with interesting topics.
- Pandora reported second-quarter earnings of $0.04 per share, topping analysts' consensus estimate of $0.02. Revenues also came in above expectations, at $162 million versus $155.6 million. However, the company issued guidance below estimates, and shares are moving lower in pre-market trading.
- The annual rate of growth of foreign direct investment in China rose to 24.1% in July from 20.1% in June. Economists predicted a slowdown in growth to 14.0%. Investment from Germany jumped 58.3%.
- German GDP rose 0.7% in the second quarter, right in line with expectations. Private consumption growth accelerated to 0.5% from 0.2% in the previous quarter, and growth in both imports and exports came in above expectations.
- British GDP growth accelerated to 0.7% in the second quarter, exceeding estimates for 0.6% growth, an unchanged pace from Q1. Private consumption growth rose to 0.4% in Q2 from 0.3% in Q1, and growth in imports and exports both more than doubled estimates.
- July new home sales data are due out in the U.S. at 10 AM ET. Economists predict sales fell 2.0% to 487,000 units annualized last month after rising 8.3% to 497,000 the month before.
- The advance reading of August consumer confidence is also released at 10 AM. Economists predict the index will rise to -16.5 from July's -17.4 reading.