S&P futures rose alongside European stocks as Asian shares posted modest declines. The euro set a new six-month high and European bourses rose as PMI data from Germany and France signaled that the ECB will have to tighten soon as Europe’s recovery remains on track, with the German Ifo business confidence printing at the highest level on record, and hinting at a GDP print in the 5% range. Oil declined after the Trump budget proposal suggested selling half the crude held in the US strategic petroleum reserve.
Strong economic survey data across the Eurozone supported EU bourses, despite a cautious start to trade after last night’s deadly terror attack in the UK. Alongside strong headline numbers, one of the most eye-catching details in the data was the biggest manufacturing sector job growth reading in the survey’s 20-year-history and overall employment gains were the second best in a decade.
“It’s a very good result and it’s broad based. We’ve got a good pace of growth here. The fact we have maintained this high level in May is great news for second quarter GDP,” said Chris Williamson, chief business economist at IHS Markit.”
This post was published at Zero Hedge on May 23, 2017.
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