Investing.com - Here are the top five things you need to know in financial markets on Monday, July 24:
1. All eyes on OPEC committee meeting
Investors will keep a close eye on a highly-anticipated meeting of some oil ministers from OPEC and non-OPEC producers, who are gathering to discuss compliance with the cartel's deal to cut production.
The monitoring committee meeting in St. Petersburg, Russia, includes OPEC members Kuwait, Algeria and Venezuela as well as non-OPEC countries Russia and Oman. Other ministers, from Saudi Arabia and elsewhere, could also participate as observers.
Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said earlier that there would be no discussion of deeper oil output cuts at the meeting, but there will be talk of introducing production caps on Nigeria and Libya. The two countries had been exempted from the pact among major oil producers to allow their production to recover from years of unrest.
A decision on that issue is expected to be announced soon after the meeting concludes later in the day.
In recent trading, U.S. crude was at $45.87 a barrel, up 11 cents, or around 0.2%, while Brent oil tacked on 15 cents to $48.21 a barrel.
2. Alphabet earnings in focus
Market participants will continue to keep an eye on the U.S. quarterly reporting season, with the focus on earnings from Google parent Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) out after the closing bell. Analysts expect the tech giant to report earnings per share of $4.46 on revenue of $25.64 billion.
Logitech (NASDAQ:LOGI) and Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE:APC) are also due after the close.
Earnings expected before the opening bell include Halliburton (NYSE:HAL), Hasbro (NASDAQ:HAS), Stanley Black & Decker (F:SWK), Manpower Group (NYSE:MAN), PetMed Express (NASDAQ:PETS) and Arconic (NYSE:ARNC).
U.S. stock futures pointed to a lower open on Wall Street, with the blue-chip Dow futures indicating a loss of 36 points, or around 0.2%; the S&P 500 futures ticked down 6 points, or about 0.2%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures fell 11 points, or roughly 0.2%.
3. President Trump to make statement on healthcare
President Donald Trump is set to deliver a statement on healthcare at 3:15PM ET (1915GMT), according to the White House.
The president offered an opinion on the state of the Republican attempt to change the U.S. healthcare system in a Twitter post on Sunday.
According to sources, Republican Senate leaders aim to hold a procedural vote as early as Tuesday to take up legislation to repeal or replace Obamacare, but it remained unclear which version of the bill senators would vote on.
The investigation into U.S. President Donald Trump campaign's ties to Russia will also continue to get attention. Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, a senior White House adviser, is expected to face questions about his contacts with Russian citizens and officials when he testifies before the Senate Intelligence Committee later in the day.
The U.S. dollar was nursing losses near 13-month lows against a basket of the other major currencies, pressured by ongoing concerns over political turmoil in Washington.
4. German automakers sink on collusion accusations
German auto stocks took a hit, weighed down by uncertainty over possible antitrust fines after European regulators said they were investigating allegations that carmakers were operating a cartel.
Shares in Volkswagen (DE:VOWG_p) slumped around 3% in mid-morning trade, with premium rivals Daimler (DE:DAIGn) and BMW (DE:BMWG) down 3.7% and 2.6% respectively.
The news came after German magazine Der Spiegel said on Friday that VW, its Audi and Porsche brands and BMW may have colluded to fix the prices of diesel emissions treatment systems using industry committees.
In the broader market, European shares were broadly lower, with Germany's DAX down around 0.7%, while London's FTSE 100 dropped 1%.
5. Euro zone private sector output loses momentum
Euro zone private sector activity lost momentum for the second month running in July, while inflation pressures continued to decline, according to a flash survey from Markit.
The composite output index, which measures the combined output of both the manufacturing and service sectors, declined to a six-month low of 55.8 from 56.3 in June, compared to expectations for 56.2.
Germany, the motor of the euro area economy, saw growth fall to the lowest level since January, while France also saw output ease.
Despite coming off recent highs, the index remained at an elevated level by historical standards and signaled one of the strongest expansions seen over the past six years.
The euro was down slightly at 1.1655 against the dollar, after inching up earlier to a 23-month high of 1.1684.