From The Trading Floor: Markets are fluctuating this morning despite upbeat earnings and positive Eurozone PM
- Sales of new home sales rose more than forecast in June (497,000) to the highest level in 5 years.
- The Markit economics preliminary index of U.S. manufacturing increased to 53.2 in July from a final reading of 51.9 a month earlier
- Grupo Grana Y Montero (GRAM) went public on the NYSE this morning pricing 19.5 million ADR’s at $21.13 with an opening print of $21.35 on 957,900 shares.
- The China HSBC Flash Manufacturing PMI index slipped to 47.7 from last month's 48.2 reading, indicating a deepening contraction in Chinese manufacturing (any number below 50 indicates contraction while readings above 50 indicate expansion). Economists had expected the index to remain unchanged at 48.2.
- Eurozone-wide flash manufacturing PMI rose to 50.1 from last month's 48.8 reading, indicating a transition into an expansion phase. Economists had expected the index to advance to 49.1, representing solid improvement but not quite rising out of contractionary conditions.
- French flash manufacturing PMI rose to 49.8 from 48.4, beating expectations for a smaller advance to 48.8. The numbers indicate that manufacturing activity in France continues to contract, but the contraction has slowed to a near halt. German flash manufacturing PMI crossed into positive territory, with the index rising to 50.3 from last month's 48.6 reading.
- From a technical perspective we see resistance at 1698 / 1701 and support at 1683 / 1686
