Good morning,
The European Central Bank meets today to decide whether to continue emergency funding to Greece, which resoundingly voted no to further austerity measures. Greek banks have been closed for a week and the government must decide when to re-open. … In the U.S. negotiators are reportedly close to a deal on limiting nuclear weapons in Iran but U.S. Secretary John Kerry says the talks could go either way. … And congratualtions to the U.S. women’s soccer team, which rolled over Japan in a 5-2 victory. …At 9:45 a.m. ET, PMI services index for June comes out and is expected to drop a tad; also due out at 10:00 a.m. — the Labor Market Conditions Index and non-manufacturing ISM.
European markets and euro drop in the day after the No vote in Greece. U.S. set to open lower by about 1%. Need we say more? MarketWatch
Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis resigns. In a blog post, Varoufakis says Prime Minister Tsipras asked him to resign at the request of negotiating partners in Europe. “I was made aware of a certain preference by some Eurogroup participants, and assorted ‘partners’, for my… ‘absence’ from its meetings; an idea that the Prime Minister judged to be potentially helpful to him in reaching an agreement. For this reason I am leaving the Ministry of Finance today. … And I shall wear the creditors’ loathing with pride.” Yanis Varoufakis blog
Eurozone heads to talk then meet Tuesday to discuss Greek situation at 6 p.m. in Europe. In advance of the meeting, European Council President Donald Tusk is holding a conference phone call with ECB head Mario Draghi, Eurogroup head Jeroen Dijsselbloem, and Jean-Claude Yuncker, head of the EU Commission to discuss Greece. After the no vote, Dijsselbloem called the vote “regrettable.” Twitter
Chinese shares end higher after China’s policy initiatives — but initial surge fades fast. The Shanghai Composite Index ended up 2.4%, while the rest of Asia fell. Its closing level though was far off from its opening when the index surged nearly 8%. The Nikkei closed down 2.1%, while the Hang Seng Index was last seen 3.2% lower. CNBC
Chinese developer to buy back mainland shares. China Vanke said it would buy up to 10 billion yuan ($1.6 billion) worth of shares at 13.70 yuan apiece, the closing price on July 3. It is the first Chinese company to unveil such a plan amid the downturn in Chinese equities. The South China Morning Post (paywall)
China’s investment arm to continue buying ETFs. Central Huijin Investment Co. said it bought ETFs and will continue doing it, though it did not say how much it had purchased and it would buy. Before its admission, some media outlets have reported last week that state-backed institutions infused funds in top Shanghai ETFs to prop up the market. Xinhua
Photo credit: desbyrnephotos via Flickr