China’s Premier Li Keqiang gave what investors have felt were the clearest indications about the government’s stimulus intentions at an investment forum on Thursday. Li said that job creation was the nation’s number one priority and that they were not interested in using short term stimulus measures. He also remarked that they were willing to accept growth a bit below this year’s 7.5 percent target.
His comments came shortly after trade data showed that the nation’s exports had fallen for the second month in a row, while imports fell sharply. Chinese exports declined 6.6 percent from a year ago, and imports fell 11.3 percent from last year.
In other news around the markets:
Asian markets were higher, unfazed by China’s weak trade data. The Shanghai composite gained 1.38 percent, the Shenzhen composite was up 0.43 percent, the Hang Seng index rose 1.44 percent and the South Korean KOSPI rose 0.48 percent.
European Markets
European markets were also on the rise; the UK’s FTSE gained 0.73 percent and the eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 0.48 percent. The German DAX gained 0.70 percent, France’s CAC 40 rose 0.40 percent and Italy’s MIB was up 0.50 percent.
Energy futures were lower; Brent futures lost 0.20 percent and WTI futures were down 0.11 percent. Precious metals were higher with gold and silver up 0.93 percent and 0.59 percent respectively, but industrial metals were mixed with aluminum up 2.12 percent and zinc down 0.25 percent.
The dollar lost out following the Fed minutes on Thursday, down 0.04 percent against the euro, 0.28 percent against the yen, 0.13 percent against the franc and 0.68 percent against the Australian dollar. The euro gained 0.15 percent against the pound, but lost 0.24 percent against the yen.
Earnings
Notable earnings released on Wednesday included:
Stocks moving in the Premarket included:
Notable earnings releases expected on Thursday include:
Economics
Notable economic releases on Thursday will include, Chinese CPI, Chinese PPI, the US Federal budget balance, the Bank of England’s interest rate decision, Italian industrial production, French industrial production and French CPI.
For a recap of Wednesday’s market action, click here.
<p>Tune into Benzinga’s pre-market info show with Dennis Dick and Joel Elconin <a> http://optionshouse.benzinga.com/pre-market-show/ />here</a>.</p>
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