Sprint stock plunged, and was halted by the exchange volatility trigger, when the Nikkei reported moments ago that Japan's SoftBank Group plans to break off negotiations on the long-awaited merger between its subsidiary Sprint and T-Mobile US due to a failure to agree on ownership of the combined entity, "dashing the Japanese technology giant's hopes of reshaping the American wireless business."
U.S. futures slid 0.2% as investors await a barrage of announcements including Wednesday's Fed decision, Friday's jobs report and, most importantly Trump's imminent announcement of who the next Fed chairman will be, although after the latest trial balloons, Jay Powell is now largely priced in. Asian equities edged modestly higher despite a tumble in Chinese stocks and bonds with Japan's Nikkei closing 3 points in the green, while European shares hold steady after concerns eased about the Catalan crisis with no notable developments over the weekend, pushing Spanish stocks and bonds higher.
Last week, Japan's Nikkei 225 index enjoyed its longest winning streak in history which eventually ending after 16 consecutive days of gains, only to resume rising after a brief one day hiatus. And, as foreign investors once again flood the Japanese stock market, chasing the momentum which has pushed local stocks to levels not seen since 1996, the question on everyone's lips is how much longer can this continue?
US equity futures are higher, boosted by a bevy of better than expected earnings out of tech giants Amazon, Intel and Microsoft as Asian stocks and European shares climb amid the dovish sentiment unleashed from Thursday’s ECB update.
US equity futures and Asian shares are flat this morning with European shares treading water ahead of the ECB's policy meeting in which it’s expected to announce a tapering to its €60bn in monthly QE. On this busiest day of Q3 earnings season, companies set to report earnings include Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon and Intel, while we also get data on jobless claims and wholesale inventories.