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U.S. futures were pointing toward a quiet trading session on Tuesday, as investors assessed the latest government data to gauge the damages of the Delta variant of coronavirus on world economies.
Meanwhile, European markets were lifted by stronger than expected earnings, with the pan-European STOXX 600 up 0.25% to an all-time high of 471.9, and
Goldman Sachs
raising its 12-month target for the index to 520.
Flutter Entertainment,
the world’s largest online betting group, was up nearly 9% to €166 despite a 12% fall in earnings, after indicating that it would make a profit on its U.S. unit by 2023.
The European air and travel industries performed strongly with the exception of
Air France,
down 1.3%, and hotel company
Accor,
down 0.9%, after a U.S. State Department warning about visits to the country on account of its rising coronavirus infections.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were broadly lower at 34,974, S&P 500 futures at 4,432.35, and Nasdaq’s up slightly at 15,141.50.
Gold prices moved up slightly to $1,731 an ounce after Monday’s brief “flash crash.”
Brent crude oil for October was trading up 0.9% at $69.68 a barrel, with West Texas Intermediate up 1.3% to $67.4 for a September delivery.
London was the only European stock market to decline on Tuesday morning, down 0.16% for the
FTSE 100
in midday trading, with continental bourses posting gains of between 0.1% and 0.2%.
Hong Kong’s
Hang Seng Index
was up 1.2%, making up for last week’s losses, as did the onshore
CSI 300
index, up 1.2% to 5043.
The NFIB small business optimism index and preliminary second-quarter nonfarm productivity and unit labor costs are expected to be released today, as well as the eurozone and Germany ZEW survey of expectations, on consumer confidence.
Markets are waiting for the release of U.S. inflation figures on Wednesday, amid markets’ uncertainty about whether or not the Federal Reserve will decide to tighten its monetary policy earlier than previously expected.
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Read More: Markets Quiet, Waiting for U.S. Inflation Numbers