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Biden drops out of US presidential race

US President Joe Biden quit the race for reelection at the weekend and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris. The move came after polling data showed for weeks it would be extremely difficult for Biden to succeed in November’s election. Many Democrats came out on Sunday to immediately back Harris. The party’s policy direction is expected to remain largely unchanged under a potential Harris administration.

Date
Auteur
Shane Strowmatt, LGT
Temps de lecture
5 minutes

Biden
© Shutterstock

After tech stocks ran into a brick wall last week, investors will keep their eyes locked on tech earnings this week as the second-quarter earnings season continues. Traders will sift through second-quarter reports from Google parent company Alphabet and Tesla on Tuesday, as well as Microsoft on Thursday for proof that this year’s artificial intelligence-driven rally is supported by the numbers. In macroeconomic data, Purchasing Managers’ Indices from many countries around the world are due on Wednesday. USA gross domestic product (Thursday) as well as personal consumptions expenditures (Friday) finish off the week.

Wall Street finishes the week on shaky ground

In New York, stock indices continued to slide to finish the week. The Dow Jones Industrial lost 0.9%, the S&P 500 fell 0.7% and the Nasdaq-100 dropped 0.9% on Friday. The Nasdaq-100 lost nearly 4% over the full week.

In individual stocks, CrowdStrike shares plummeted 11% on Friday after an update to one of the cycbersecurity company’s software packages caused widespread defects in some of its clients using Microsoft’s Windows operating system. The botched update affected a wide array of sectors, including aviation and media companies, as well as financial services and healthcare firms. Microsoft shares finished the day down 0.7%.

China trims rates

The People’s Bank of China surprised markets by cutting rates despite economists expecting no change in monetary policy. The central bank cut its one-year loan prime rate, which is used for corporate and household loans, by 10 basis points to 3.35%. It cut its five-year loan prime rate, which is used as a peg for property loans, by 10 basis points to 3.85%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was trading up 0.6% after the announcement, while the mainland CSI 300 was down 1.1%.

Elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region, stock markets were in the red across the board. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 plunged 1.3% and in South Korea, the Kospi was trading 1.1% lower. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.6%.

German producer prices fall

Germany’s Producer Price Index fell 1.6% in June on an annual basis, the 12th month of falling producer prices in a row. The main driver of the falling prices were lower energy costs. Producer prices are closely watched by market participants since they affect consumer prices as companies pass on the prices they pay to their customers. Consumer inflation was 2.2% on an annual basis in June in Germany. Germany’s DAX lost 1% and the Euro Stoxx 50 dropped 0.9% on Friday.

Also in European macroeconomic data from last week, UK consumers’ appetite appeared to be cooling down in the summer with retail sales falling 1.2% in June when compared with the previous month. Lower sales volumes were experienced across most sectors.

Corporate and macroeconomic calendars

Corporate news in focus: Q2 figures from Verizon, SAP.

Economic data in focus: German retail sales.

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Global economic and market trends at a glance

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Publisher: LGT Bank (Switzerland) Ltd., Glärnischstrasse 36, CH-8027 Zurich
Editor: Alessandro Fezzi
Source: LGT Bank (Switzerland) Ltd.

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