Good morning,
U.S. stocks look like they may eke out a fifth consecutive day of gains but the FTSE 100 looked headed for a loss as the Grecian saga continues to roil markets and Burberry Group dropped 3% after it reported declining sales. Policymakers are still digesting the details of the nuke deal with Iran. Those who loved it still love it and the detractors are still detracting. Stay tuned.
Janet Yellen testimony affirms intention to raise rates in 2015 — as long as data continue to support a move to normalcy. It’s the two-day marathon on Capitol Hill known as Humphrey-Hawkins. Congress asks questions about monetary policy and the Federeal Reserve chair must answer. The prepared testimony can be found here. The fireworks are likely during the Q&A when Yellen will face lawmakers who are frustrated with the recovery and Fed secrecy.
IMF turns the screws on Germany as Greek parliament wrestles over legislation. The International Monetary Fund says it won’t support the bailout unless the European Group offers some debt relief to Greece, which has $331 billion in debt. Lawmakers in Athens are under the gun to pass reforms in order to get a bridge loan so banks, which have been closed for more th.an two weeks, can re-open. The vote is expected around 3 p.m. ET. New York Times (paywall), Bloomberg
Made in China: 7% GDP in 2Q and moral hazard. At this point, many China watchers are pretty suspicious of China’s official growth report — Chinese investors must be as well. The Shanghai Composite fell 3%. Another indicator, electricty use, suggests growth is sliding well below 7%. In China, many businesspeople do deals on the assumption that the government will bail them out. So why not take a loan for another unnecessary real estate project? Quartz
Streaming dynamo Netflix, Kinder Morgan, Bank of America on board to report 2Q earnings. Earnings season is in full swing. BlackRock reported earnings of $4.96/share, unexpectedly beating the Wall Street consensus of $4.80/share. The fund manager had warned that 2Q earnings might disappoint. Expenses were higher and it had net outflows overall. A bright spot in the report: $3 billion of net inflows from cross-border mutual funds. Zacks
Bank of Japan cuts growth, inflation forecast, maintains monetary expansion target. The central bank lowered its inflation target in the current fiscal year ending March 2016 to 0.7% from 0.8%. The GDP estimate was also lowered to 1.7% from 2%. It maintained its pledge to allow the monetary base to expand at an annual 80 trillion yen ($648 billion). Bloomberg/Financial Times
Hanergy Thin Film shares ordered suspended. Shares of the solar energy company were suspended since May 20, the day they plunged nearly 50% in less than half an hour. With the HSFC order, Hanergy could not resume trading even if it wanted. Financial Times (paywall)
Kaisa Group set to resume property sales. The troubled Chinese developer, which defaulted on its U.S. currency debt in April, plans to hold sales at its three projects in Shenzhen as early as this month. The sales will help ease its financial problems. Bloomberg
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