China’s economic growth slows to its weakest pace in 27 years
China’s economy grew by 6.2% in the second quarter of 2019, the slowest pace since the data series started 27 years ago and lower than the 6.4% growth recorded in Q1 2019.
Economists were expecting the economy to grow at an annual rate of 6.3% in Q2. Beijing is widely expected to roll out more measures to stimulate growth as its trade disputes with the U.S. continue to drag on.
U.S. President Donald Trump weighed in on the numbers early Monday, tweeting, “China’s 2nd Quarter growth is the slowest it has been in more than 27 years. The United States Tariffs are having a major effect on companies wanting to leave China for non-tariffed countries. Thousands of companies are leaving. This is why China wants to make a deal with the U.S., and wishes it had not broken the original deal in the first place.”
Wall Street set to open higher
U.S. equity futures inched higher on Monday despite the weak GDP data out of China.
As of 04:55 a.m. ET, futures on the blue-chip Dow were up 45 points, or 0.16% to 27,354. Futures on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 rose 12 points, or 0.15% to 7,972 while those on broader S&P 500 climbed 5.12 points, or 0.17% to 3,020.62.
Asian markets rebounded from early losses, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index closing 0.29% higher at 28,554.88. China’s Shanghai Composite index ended the session with a gain of 0.4% at 2,942.19 point.
Big banks to kick off Q2 earnings season
Citigroup Inc (NYSE: C) is set to officially kick off U.S. second-quarter earnings season today. The bank will report earnings before the opening bell and hold a conference call to discuss the results at 10 a.m. ET. Analysts expect Citigroup to post earnings of $1.81 per share on revenue of $18.5 billion in the quarter.
Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), and Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) will publish their results Tuesday ahead of the market open. Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) and Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) are set to report on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.
Billionaire Peter Thiel wants Google investigated by the CIA, FBI
Billionaire Peter Thiel wants Alphabet Inc’s (NASDAQ: GOOG) subsidiary Google investigated by the CIA and FBI for refusing to work with the U.S. military, according to a report from Axios on Sunday.
Axios quote the 51-year-old tech investor as saying Google’s senior management has engaged in the seemingly treasonous decision to work with the Chinese military and not with the US military.
Thiel also wants the FBI and CIA to ask the tech giant how many foreign intelligence agencies have infiltrated its Manhattan Project for AI. Shares of Alphabet Inc were little changed in premarket trading on Monday.
