- Citigroup will represent the unofficial start of second-quarter earnings season on Wall St.
- China GDP data disappoints but markets shake off bad news to rise
- Anheuser calls off $10 billion Asian IPO
U.S. stocks on Monday were poised to climb modestly, building on their record finishes from last week, as a wave of second-quarter earnings await.
How are the major benchmarks performing?
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average YMU19, +0.19% were up 51 points, or 0.2%, at 27,360, those for S&P 500 ESU19, +0.19% climbed 4.85 points, or 0.2%, at 3,020.25, while Nasdaq 100 futures NQU19, +0.17% rose 11.75 points to reach 7,971.25, a gain of 0.1%.
On Friday, the Dow DJIA, +0.90% gained 244.02 points, or 0.90%, at 27,332.10, while the S&P 500 index SPX, +0.46% added 13.83 points, or 0.5%, at 3,013.75. The Nasdaq Composite index COMP, +0.59% closed 48.10 points higher at 8,244.14, a gain of 0.6%.
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What’s driving the market?
Citigroup Inc. C, +0.22% is slated to kick off its second-quarter earnings season later Monday, representing the unofficial start of quarterly results on Wall Street. Investors will be keenly watching results for signs of the impact of Sino-American tariff wars, a regime of ultralow interest rates and a domestic slowdown buffeting global economies, washing up in some areas of the U.S.
“Citigroup will be in focus today as the bank will release its second-quarter figures. Traders will be keeping an eye on the banks net lending margin rate, and the profitability of its lending division,” wrote David Madden, market analyst at CMC Markets UK.
In Asia, Chinese stocks edged higher on a mixed bag of data that showed that the world’s second-largest economy expanded at the slowest pace in 27 years, raising expectations that Beijing would introduce stimulus measures to support the economy. Meanwhile, measures of industrial production came in better than expected.
China gross domestic product, or GDP, in the second quarter slowed to 6.2%, marking its slowest pace since 1992 — though mostly matching expectations — from a reading of 6.4% in the first quarter. Industrial production in the country accelerated to 6.3% from 5.0%, ahead of the 5.2% consensus.
Markets have been mostly rising on the promise of easy-money policies from the likes of the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank, with some investors speculating that anticipation a further round of monetary-policy stimulus from Beijing’s central bank has also helped to soften the impact of a relatively weak GDP print.
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Which stocks are in focus?
Gilead Sciences Inc. GILD, +0.11% said would invest $5.1 billion to raise its stake in Belgian biotechnology company Galapagos N.V. ADR GLPG, +2.72%
Shares of Anheuser-Busch InBev SAwere in focus after the seller of Budweiser BUD, -3.03% called off what would have been the largest initial public offering of the year, saying it wouldn’t proceed with the nearly $10 billion listing of its Asian business.
How are other markets trading?
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note TMUBMUSD10Y, -0.13% was 2.12%.
In Asia, stocks finished higher, with the China CSI 300 000300, +0.41% adding 0.4%, Japan’s Nikkei 225 NIK, +0.20% rising 0.2% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index HSI, +0.29% advancing 0.2%. European shares were marginally higher, with the Stoxx Europe 600 SXXP, +0.15% edging 0.1% higher.
In commodities markets, crude-oil prices CLQ19, +0.38% were climbing modestly, up 0.3% at $60.40 a barrel, along with gold prices GCQ19, +0.39% rising 0.4% at $1,417.80 an ounce.
The U.S. dollar DXY, +0.00% was trading flat at 96.809 in early Monday dealings, as measured by the ICE U.S. Dollar Index.
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