US stock markets rose on Monday with only a few trading hours remaining, despite disappointing Chinese macro data.
The main S & P 500 index increased 0.3 percent to 4,519.00 points, the Dow Jones index increased 0.2 percent, at 34,590.59 points, and the Nasdaq rose 0.7 percent, at 14,212.59 points.
Earnings were limited by disappointing macro data from China, which showed that the Chinese economy grew less quickly than expected in the second quarter.
“On Monday morning we were presented with the Chinese growth figure for the second quarter. The growth figure of 6.3 percent compared to the same period last year confirmed the moderate impact of reopening on the Chinese economy. The forecast was 7.3 percent growth,” said economist Luc Appen of Van Lanchotte Kempen. “In the coming weeks, we will wait and see if there will be new government support,” he added.
On the macro level, it was also announced on Monday that the Federal Reserve’s index of manufacturing in the New York region fell from 6.6 to 1.1 in July.
The euro/dollar was quoted at 1.1235. At the beginning of the trading day in New York, the currency pair was still moving at 1.1233 and near the closing of the US stock exchanges on Friday there was a level of 1.1227 on the boards.
Oil fell 1.7 percent on Monday.
On the macro level, four releases are scheduled for Tuesday in the US. Retail sales are set to come ahead of retail, followed by data on industrial production, business inventories and homebuilders confidence later in the day.
Company news
A US federal appeals court on Friday denied the Federal Trade Commission’s request to temporarily block Microsoft from its $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard. A few days earlier, the FTC had already taken issue with the court in San Francisco over a request to block the takeover, after which the regulator appealed.
A ruling by the 9th US Court of Appeals on Friday means that only UK regulators can block the deal. It was announced on Friday that the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority had delayed a decision on this until August 29, 2023 at the latest.
Microsoft also announced that Call of Duty, the most popular PC game in Activision Blizzard’s targeted acquisition, will still be available on Sony’s PlayStation after the deal closes.
Twitter Ads revenue decreased by 50 percent. CEO Elon Musk reported this on Saturday night. According to Musk, the microblogging service also has negative cash flow because the debt mountain is high.
There was better news this weekend for Musk at his other company, Tesla, as the first electric truck rolled off the production line. The stock rose 1.9 percent.
BridgeBio Pharma rose 80.5 percent after the drugmaker found positive research data for a potential treatment for heart failure.
