Asia Mixed; Europe Drops On Global Growth; US Signals Higher Opening

International

Asia

●     Asian stock indexes were mixed as China’s Premier Wen Jiabao called for further investment. But movements in the indexes were limited by concerns of global growth.

●     The Nikkei fell 0.08 percent; Korea’s KOSPI slid 0.17 percent; the Shanghai Composite advanced 0.51 percent; the Hang Seng rose 0.12 percent; and the S&P/ASX 200 eased 0.04 percent.

Europe

●     European stock indexes dip as perceptions of weak global growth take its toll on company earnings. Watch for changes in the Vanguard MSCI Europe ETF (NYSEArca: VGK).

●     In light of the €100 billion bailout package for Spain, Spanish Prime Minister Rajoy announced a €65 billion austerity package that includes an increase in the sales tax, reduction in unemployment benefits and elimination of a tax rebate for home buyers.

●     Portugal might need a relaxation of budget deficit requirements, as its last €2 billion budget cut proposal consisting of reductions in pensions and civil-servant pay was ruled unconstitutional. Portugal’s 10-year bond yield has fallen from a euro-area record of 18.3 percent on Jan. 31, but still remain above 10 percent.

Domestic

●     U.S. stock futures pointed higher before a report that will spell out the Fed decision at its meeting last month to extend stimulus measures.

Commodities

All commodities news is as of 6:40 a.m. ET.

Gold and Silver Ascended

●     Gold advanced 0.58 percent, or $9.07, to $1576.35. Expect gains in the SPDR Gold Shares physical bullion ETF (NYSEArca: GLD).

●     Silver rose 0.86 percent, or $0.23, to $27.06. Expect increases in the iShares Silver Trust (NYSEArca: SLV).

WTI and Brent Oil Surged

●     The August contract for WTI crude oil advanced 1.13 percent, or $0.95, to $84.86 per barrel.

●     The August contract for Brent crude oil jumped 1 percent, or $0.98, to $98.95 per barrel.

●     Expect increases in both the United States Oil Fund (NYSEArca: USO) and in the United States Brent Oil Fund (NYSEArca: BNO).

Fund Flows
On Tuesday, July 10, 2012, the top ETF in nominal inflows was the SPDR S&P 500 (NYSEArca: SPY), with creations of $697.9 million. The top ETF in nominal outflows was the SPDR Gold Trust (NYSEArca: GLD), with redemptions of $216.7 million.

ETF Launches

• The AdvisorShares Global Alpha & Beta ETF (NYSEArca: RRGR) is an actively managed global asset allocation fund that blends single equities and funds in a mix that tries to outperform financial benchmarks, such as the S&P 500 Index and the Barclays Capital Aggregate Bond Index, while mitigating volatility and risk. The fund, which comes with a net expense ratio of 1.40 percent that includes a waiver of 0.32 percent, is diversified across industry sectors and countries in a top-down investment style that first looks at the big economic picture before narrowing its focus to sectors, countries and ultimately individual stocks.

ETF Filings

None as of yet today

Economic Calendar

Domestic

●     MBA Purchase Applications - 7:00 a.m. ET

●     International Trade - 8:30 a.m. ET

●     Wholesale Trade - 10:00 a.m. ET

●     FOMC Minutes - 2:00 p.m. ET

Americas

●     Canada

○     Merchandise Trade - 8:30 a.m. ET

Europe

●     Germany

○     CPI - 2:00 a.m. ET

Asia/Pacific

●     Japan

○     Bank of Japan Announcement - TBD

●     Australia

○     Labour Force Survey - 9:30 p.m. ET