Germany's construction sector remains in contraction territory, but at least the rate of decline slowed towards the end of Q2. That is helped by a stronger upturn in both civil engineering and commercial activity. However, even that hasn't been enough to offset the drag from residential activity - which remains a big factor in weighing…

China is playing hardball here as they are not going to endorse the reported tentative deal with French cognac makers from last week. For some background: China reportedly seeks to tie French cognac deal with EV tariff talks The duties will be implemented for a period of five years starting from 5 July. However, there…

Eurostoxx -0.6% Germany DAX -0.2% France CAC 40 -0.8% UK FTSE -0.3% Spain IBEX -0.5% Italy FTSE MIB -0.1% This comes with S&P 500 futures seen down by 0.3% as well. The Globex is still open for a while more but as a reminder, US markets are closed today in observance of the 4th of…

Prior 2.9%; revised to 2.8% The Swiss jobless rate ticked higher in June but only after a revision lower for the month of May. Labour market conditions have been softening but that's fitting with the situation faced by most major economies in the past year. …

The revisions as always tend to be watered down but this is still better than the 5.10% wage hike secured for fiscal year 2024. And in any case, this still marks a second year running that the average wage hike exceeds 5%. …

Prior 51.3 Composite PMI 52.1 Prior 51.4 Spain's services sector continues to show improvement despite softer demand conditions; new work saw a decline for the first time in over a year-and-a-half. The upturn is driven primarily by existing contracts with the outlook looking more confident at least as well. HCOB notes that: "Spain’s private sector…

Eurostoxx +0.3% Germany DAX +0.4% France CAC 40 +0.2% UK FTSE +0.4% Spain IBEX +0.1% Italy FTSE MIB -0.2% US futures are also seen up 0.1% on the day but it is still early. The main event today is the US jobs report and that will be the key risk factor that markets will act…

I'm still cautious, following all data available. I'm worried about investment in the Euro Area. Centeno is a dove, so I guess his cautiousness stems from fear of undershooting the target. His previous comments were indeed focusing on slower growth and low inflation expectations. …

Eurostoxx +0.4% Germany DAX +0.3% France CAC 40 +0.6% UK FTSE +0.5% Spain IBEX +0.6% Italy FTSE MIB +0.6% It's a slight bounce back for German stocks after the struggle yesterday at least. The mood music is more optimistic today with US futures also sitting higher, with tech shares also faring better. S&P 500 futures…

Prior 42.1 The improvement comes amid a notable jump in both the output and new orders. That said, the outlook remains tentative with 60% of firms expecting an increase in protectionist measures over the next 12 months. Here's the detailed breakdown of the report: …