Stocks were generally higher in Asian trade. Australia led the way with a two percent gain, the Nikkei added more than one percent and the Hang Seng was up 0.4%. Bucking the trend was Shanghai which lost 0.6% on the session. European indexes are broadly higher, with the Footsie currently higher by almost 1.4% and the Dax up a bit more than one percent. US stock futures are higher by about one percent as I write.

*The Q2 reading of Australia’s GDP was the best in three years with quarter on quarter growth of 1.2%, better than the 0.9% forecast.

*The August reading of China’s manufacturing sector Purchasing Managers Index was up a half point on the month to 51.7, a couple tenths better than forecast.

*The July reading of Germany’s Retail Sales was -0.3%, well below the gain of 0.5% that was expected. That is the second month in a row in which Sales fell 0.3% and the fourth month in five that showed a decline.

*The final August reading of Germany’s manufacturing sector PMI was unrevised at 58.2; the index was 61.2 in July.

*The August reading of Switzerland’s manufacturing sector PMI was down 5.5 points on the month to 61.4, far short of the estimate of 65.8.

*The August reading of the UK’s manufacturing PMI was down 2.6 points on the month to 54.3. It had been expected to fall only a fraction to 57.0.

*US mortgage applications were up 2.7% in the week ended August 27. Applications for purchase were up 1.8% and those for Refi rose 2.8%.

*The Challenger Groups says that in August there were 34,768 job cut announcements, that is down 55% from last August. Announced job cuts last month were the fewest since June 2000.

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*Stocks were generally weak in Asian trade. The Nikkei in particular had a bad day as it fell almost 3.6% on the session; the biggest daily decline in about three months. Australia and the Hang Seng were each down by about one percent and Shanghai lost a half percent. European indexes were also broadly lower with both the Footsie and Dax off by one percent. US stock futures are trading down a half percent.

*The Q2 reading of Australia’s Current Account Balance was a deficit of AD$5.6 billion, about one billion less than forecast. Their Net Exports as a percent of GDP rose 0.4% in the quarter.

*The July reading of Australia’s Retail Sales were +0.7% on a month on month basis, beating the estimate of +0.4%.

*The preliminary July reading of Japan’s Industrial Production is +0.3% on a month on month basis, better than the forecast for a decline of 0.2%.

*The July reading of Japan’s Retail Trade was up 0.7% from the month before; it had been forecast to gain 0.5%.

*The August reading of Germany’s Unemployment Rate was steady at 7.6%, as expected. The net change in the number of Unemployed was -17k, just missing the -20k estimate.

*In July there were 48.7k Mortgage Approvals in the UK, according to the Bank of England; a couple thousand more than expected.

*The weekly report on chain store sales from ICSC shows an increase of 0.1% on a week to week basis for the week ended August 28. The Johnson Redbook report of the same thing is due out at 7:55am CDT.

*The June reading of the Case/Shiller Home Price Index is due out at 8:00am CDT, it is expected to be +3.50% on a year over year basis. The August reading of the Chicago Purchasing Managers Index is due out at 8:45am CDT, three minutes earlier for subscribers. The Chicago PMI is expected to be 57.0, which would be down from 62.3 the month before. The August reading of Consumer Confidence is set to be released at 9:00am CDT, it is forecast to improve three tenths on the month to 50.7.

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Stocks were mixed in Asian trade. Australia was among the best with a gain of 0.8%, the Nikkei added 0.7% and Shanghai was up a quarter percent, but the Hang Seng fell a fraction on the session. European indexes are modestly higher, with the Footsie currently up about 0.6% and the Dax higher by a quarter percent. US stock futures are fractionally higher.

*In the second quarter Australian business investment unexpectedly fell 4.0%, this had been forecast to expand by 2.3%. Additionally the previous quarter was revised down to -1.0% from -0.2%.

*The Q2 reading of Switzerland’s Employment level was up 0.6% to 3.968 million; both results were a touch shy of the forecast.

*The weekly report on Initial Jobless Claims is due out at 7:30am CDT, it is expected to be 490k.

*The Mortgage Bankers Association is scheduled to release some data on Q2 mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures at 9:00am CDT.

*The Fed is expected to buy Treasuries again today, maturities ranging from February 15, 2021 to August 15, 2040; the results should be out just after 10:00am CDT.

*The weekly report on inventories of Natural Gas is due to be released at 9:30am CDT, it is expected to show an increase of 38 bcf.

*The August reading of the Kansas City Fed Production Index is due out at 10:00am CDT. Usually nobody pays attention to this report but because of the recent weakness in these regional Fed reports it might get more notice than it normally does.

*The Treasury plans to sell $29 billion 7 Year Notes today, the results will be announced just after noon CDT.

*FedHeads begin gathering in Jackson Hole today for the annual weekend long fest. Bernanke is scheduled to speak at 9:00am CDT on Friday.

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