- Asian Stocks Mostly Lower, Led by China – The Shanghai Composite closed down 2% after a steady drip lower from open to close. Chinese Foreign Direct Investment was only up 0.6% year over year (vs. the 12.5% expectation). Japanese equity markets, which were closed on Monday, started out green, but closed red, with the Nikkei down 0.65% by the close.
- European Stocks Pull Back From 2 Year High – The level to watch on the Euro Stoxx 50 continues to be the breakout level in the 2850-2855 area. The index is down about 0.5% this morning 6%+ advance to start the month of September. European car sales fell 5% year over year in August (to 686,957 registered vehicles, from 722,458 in 2012), to the lowest level since at least 1990. The German ZEW index at 5:00 am EDT is the key economic release today.
- Oil and Gas is the Weakest Sector in both Europe and Asia – The energy sector was the worst performer in both regions after oil prices continued lower overnight. Both WTI and Brent crude oil are now trading below their 50 day moving averages, the first time that has happened since late June.
- U.K. Government Sells $5 billion worth of Lloyds Bank shares – European financials have traded near their January 2013 highs this week, but have been unable to push to a new high. The U.K. government took advantage of that strength to unload its first chunk of Lloyds stock that it obtained in the financial crisis.
- U.S. CPI Data the Main Release Ahead of FOMC Tomorrow – In addition to that 8:30 am EDT CPI number, there are a few large corporates reporting earnings in the next couple days. ADBE reports after the close today, FDX reports before the open tomorrow, and ORCL reports after the close tomorrow.