Stocks set to start the week lower
U.S. stock markets look likely to kick off the new week with losses after China released data that showed its economy unexpectedly slowed in July.
China’s July retail sales grew 2.7% from a year earlier, missing economists’ estimates for 5% growth.
On the other hand, industrial output rose 3.8% in July from a year ago, below the 4.6% expansion that economists’ expected.
Following the dismal data, the People’s Bank of China trimmed its key interest rate from 2.1% to 2%.
As of 5:50 a.m. ET, futures tied to the blue-chip Dow lost 157 points, or 0.47% to 33,561. S&P 500 futures shed 24 points, or 0.56% to 4,257 while the tech-focused Nasdaq 100 futures gave away 77 points, or 0.57% to 13,500.75.
Turquoise Hill turns down Rio Tinto’s takeover bid; shares down 17%
Meanwhile, the share price of Turquoise Hill Resources (TRQ) tumbled in Monday’s premarket trading session after the company’s special committee rejected Rio Tinto (RIO)’s bid worth $2.7 billion for the remaining 49% stake in the company.
The committee said the offer is not in the Turquoise’s best interest. Rio is the majority shareholder in Turquoise.
In March, Rio submitted an all-cash offer to acquire the shares it does not already own in Turquoise for $26.57 a share.
Rio said in a statement it is “disappointed” by the committee’s decision, and still believes the offer would deliver compelling value for the minority shareholders of Turquoise.
Turquoise stock slid 17.07% to $21.77 a share in premarket hours.
Bitcoin slides after hitting $25K
On the crypto front, bitcoin was under pressure early Monday after rising above $25,000 for the first time since mid-June over the weekend.
At the time of writing, the world’s most popular and largest cryptocurrency was marked 2.3% lower to $24,165 a coin.
Ether, the second largest crypto by market capitalization behind bitcoin was down 5.29% to $1,900.
Smaller cryptos including Dogecoin, Solan, and Cardano were also trading lower.
Momentum for cryptocurrencies has increased in recent days following lower-than-expected U.S. CPI data for July.
