Good morning,
Stocks in China were mostly higher overnight on hopes that the U.S. economic recovery is on solid footing. Upbeat retail sales for May added to the optimism. The Hong Kong market gained 1.4% while Shanghai rose 0.9%. But worries about Greece (the IMF walked out of negotiations Thursday) hit European stocks. Dollar ticked up again, which has to make you ask: Is the U.S. currency upstaging the Fed, still widely expected to raise rets in September?
No game theory for Greece. Greece’s finance minister writes in an oped that the fiscally-stressed country is not playing games or bluffing. Yanis Varoufakis writes: “We are determined to clash with mighty vested interests in order to reboot Greece and gain our partners’ trust. We are also determined not to be treated as a debt colony that should suffer what it must.” New York Times (paywall)
Close vote expected on trade pact. Republicans and not Democrats are backing fast track authority for the White House to push through Trans-Pacific Partnership. TPP ” would harmonize trading standards and lower trade barriers among the signatory countries.” Reuters
Goldman Sachs back in high speed trading. The Wall Street firm had been critical fo the practices is hiring to expand its electronic equity-execution unit. Bloomberg
Uber hits 1 million rides daily in China. That matches the volume Uber notches in all its other markets. some of that success comes from The People’s Uber; Uber doesn’t get a commission on those rides. Uber plans on raising another $1 billion just for its China operations. Quartz