Investing.com - Here are the top five things you need to know in financial markets on Tuesday, July 19:
1. Global stocks slide as falling oil prices dampen sentiment
Global stocks traded mostly down on Tuesday, as falling oil prices dampened demand for riskier assets.
Asian shares closed lower, as a downturn in crude oil curbed the enthusiasm from fresh record highs on Wall Street. However, stocks in Japan outperformed, with the Nikkei rising for the sixth straight session as markets reopened after a public holiday on Monday.
Meanwhile, European stock markets retreated from a three-week high on Tuesday, as weak oil prices and disappointing corporate earnings reports soured the investing mood.
Elsewhere, U.S. stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Tuesday morning, easing off from record levels, as investors looked ahead to a number of key earning reports while keeping an eye on oil prices.
2. Oil hovers near 2-month lows amid global supply glut
Oil prices added to overnight losses on Tuesday, falling back towards the lowest level in two months amid ongoing concerns over a global supply glut.
U.S. crude was down 14 cents, or 0.3%, to $45.80 a barrel, while Brent shed 13 cents, or 0.28%, to $46.83 a barrel.
Market players looked ahead to fresh weekly information on U.S. stockpiles of crude and refined products. The American Petroleum Institute will release its inventories report later in the day, while Wednesday’s government report could show crude stockpiles fell by 2.3 million barrels.
3. Goldman Sachs reports Q2 earnings
Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) is set to report second quarter results at 11:30GMT, or 7:30AM ET, Tuesday morning. The bank is projected to report earnings of $3.04 a share on revenue of $7.58 billion.
Besides Goldman Sachs, earnings are also expected Tuesday from Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH), Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) and United Continental Holdings Inc (NYSE:UAL), among others.
4. German ZEW economic sentiment collapses in July
German economic sentiment deteriorated to the lowest level since November 2012 in July, as the Brexit shock hit business confidence, industry data showed on Tuesday.
The ZEW Centre for Economic Research said that its index of German economic sentiment plunged by 26.0 points to -6.8 this month from June’s reading of 19.2. Analysts had expected the index to drop by 10.2 points to 9.0 in July.
On the index, a level above 0.0 indicates optimism, a level below 0.0 indicates pessimism.
5. Australian, New Zealand dollars sink on rate cut bets
The Australian and New Zealand dollars sank on Tuesday, as investors ramped up bets that both central banks could ease monetary policy as early as next month.
The Aussie tumbled to a more than one-week low of 0.7491 against the greenback, before recovering to 0.7502, down 1.2% on the day.
In the minutes of its July 5 board meeting, the Reserve Bank of Australia signaled it may be ready to lower the cash rate further since its assessment is that inflation would remain quite low, but any move is dependent on incoming data.
The likelihood of an August rate cut has increased to 56% from 45% over the past week, derivatives indicate.
Meanwhile, the kiwi hit a three-week low of $0.7010 and was last trading at $0.7025, down 1.25%, after the Reserve Bank of New Zealand stepped up efforts to impose fresh curbs on a hot housing market - a move seen as raising the chance of a rate cut.
Swaps traders are pricing in a 77% chance of an RBNZ rate cut on August 11, compared with 39% a week ago.