A look at the day ahead in European and global markets from Vidya Ranganathan
‘A Wegovy a week ….’ Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk’s red-hot weight-loss injection hits British stores this week and investors just can’t get enough of the shares of what has become Europe’s most valuable listed firm.
Investors are also focusing on English football club Manchester United, whose shares fell 18% on Tuesday in their steepest one-day decline.
Man U shares have been down sharply since a report that its owners, the Glazer family, are going to take the club off the market, having failed to get close to their anticipated asking price.
Sterling is down, as are the euro, the yuan, the yen and almost every other currency, while the dollar reaches for 6-month peaks, this time boosted by the arguments around relative U.S. economic strength.
Part two of the dollar rally came from higher yields as top-rated companies including Unilever Capital Corp, Philip Morris International and Volkswagen tapped U.S. debt markets in the traditional post-Labor Day rush for financing.
Part three is oil. Brent crude is above $90 a barrel after Saudi Arabia and Russia extended their voluntary supply cuts to the end of the year. That spike brings with it a host of worries about how much higher the Fed will keep rates for how much longer, and what pricier oil will mean for a world struggling with weak demand and China’s stuttering economy.
Weakness in demand will be the focus of data today as Germany releases July manufacturing data and the euro zone shows us what retailers were doing in July. Not much, going by the share price of French luxury group LVMH, which was just dethroned from pole position in Europe’s most-valuable list.
Key developments that could influence markets on Wednesday:
Economic data: German July manufacturing orders, Euro zone July retail sales, Poland NBP rate, U.S. trade balance for July, U.S. August ISM Services Index, Canada BOC rate decision
(Reporting by Vidya Ranganathan; Editing by Edmund Klamann)
