Global Equities Under Pressure as Shanghai Composite Stumbles

Economic Data

- (BE) Belgium May CPI M/M: 0.2 v 0.4% prior; Y/Y: 0.6% v 0.3% prior (strongest annual rise since April 2014)
- (ZA) South Africa Apr PPI M/M: 0.9% v 1.3%e; Y/Y: 3.0% v 3.4%e
- (IE) Ireland Apr Retail Sales Volume M/M: 0.5% v 2.1% prior; Y/Y: 11.9% v 9.9% prior
- (BR) Brazil May FGV Inflation IGPM M/M: 0.4% v 0.4%e; Y/Y: 4.1% v 4.1%e
- (BR) Brazil Apr PPI Manufacturing M/M: 0.3% v 1.9% prior; Y/Y: 5.6% v 4.9% prior
- (US) Initial Jobless Claims: 282K v 270Ke; Continuing Claims: 2.222M2.22Me
- (CA) Canada Q1 Current Account Balance: -$17.5B v -$18.6Be
- (CA) Canada Apr Industrial Product Price M/M: -0.9% v -0.1%e; Raw Materials Price Index M/M: 3.8% v 1.6%e
- (MX) Mexico Apr Unemployment Rate (Seasonally Adj): 4.3% v 4.2%e; Unemployment Rate NSA (unadj): 4.3% v 4.1%e
- (US) Apr Pending Home Sales M/M: 3.4% v 0.9%e; Y/Y: 13.4% v 10.9%e
- (US) Weekly EIA Natural Gas Inventories: +112 bcf v +96 to +101 bcf expected range
- (US) DOE Crude: -2.8M v -1.0Me; Gasoline: -3.3M v -1.2Me; Distillate: +1.1M v -0.5Me

Just a few sessions after it made fresh seven-year highs, China's Shanghai Composite tumbled 6.5% today as concerns about the sustainability of the rally and higher margin requirements finally took their toll. European and US markets were under pressure until just before 10:00ET, when another round of skeptical Greece headlines knocked stocks lower. As of writing, the DJIA is down 0.26%, the S&P500 is off 0.38% and the Nasdaq is down 0.15%.

April pending home sales rose to a nine-year high, with the headline figures widely topping expectations. The strength in the pending home sales reflected the very good April new home sales report out two days ago. The NAR indicated that realtors were seeing elevated foot traffic despite inventory shortages in many metro areas. HOV is up 5% on the news, while other homebuilders are seeing more modest gains.

WTI crude continues to slip lower, with the front-month contract dropping to five-week lows below $56 in trading today. An OPEC report out earlier suggested that oil supplies would keep growing through 2017, with the North America oil boom resilient despite low prices. Separately, there were headlines that Saudi Aramco would keep boost the number of rigs drilling if the oil price recovery lasted. The weekly crude stocks report showed another drawdown, helping limit WTI's losses.

Shares of Costco are under pressure this morning after the firm's third-quarter comps looked pretty weak and revenue missed expectations, despite higher y/y revenues and earnings. Abercrombie & Fitch missed top- and bottom-line expectations, and both earnings and sales declined y/y. However, analysts were saying that the pretty steep decline in sales comps was less than expected. Shares of ANF are up around 10% on the session.

Looking Ahead

- 13:30 (BR) Brazil Apr Central Govt Budget Balance (BRL): 11.3Be v 1.5B prior
- 14:45 (US) Fed's Kocherlakota speaks on Monetary Policy in Montana
- 17:00 (KR) South Korea Jun Business Manufacturing Survey: No est v 82 prior; Non-Manufacturing Survey: No est v 78 prior
- 19:00 (KR) South Korea Apr Industrial Production M/M: +0.2%e v -0.4% prior; Y/Y: -0.1%e v -0.1% prior
- 19:05 (UK) May GfK Consumer Confidence: 4e v 4 prior
- 19:30 (JP) Japan Apr Jobless Rate: 3.4%e v 3.4% prior
- 19:30 (JP) Japan Apr National CPI Y/Y: 0.6%e v 2.3% prior; CPI Ex Fresh Food Y/Y: 0.2%e v 2.2% prior; CPI Ex Food, Energy Y/Y: 0.3%e v 2.1% prior
- 19:30 (JP) Japan May Tokyo CPI Y/Y: 0.5%e v 0.7% prior; CPI Ex Fresh Food Y/Y: 0.2%e v 0.4% prior; CPI Ex Food, Energy Y/Y: 0.0%e v 0.0% prior
- 19:50 (JP) Japan Apr Preliminary Industrial Production M/M: +1.0%e v -0.8% prior; Y/Y: -0.1%e v -1.7% prior