Glorious Chinese Manufacturng Data Gets Western Markets Giddy

“U.S. stock-index futures rose, after the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index posted the longest streak of quarterly gains since 1998, as China’s manufacturing expanded and investors awaited U.S. factory data.

Netflix Inc. (NFLX) advanced 3.4 percent in early New York trading after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. recommended investors buy shares in the world’s largest Internet-subscription service. General Motors Co. lost 0.8 percent, signaling it may decline for a fourth day. Symantec (SYMC) Corp. dropped 1.9 percent after Bank of Montreal downgraded the biggest maker of anti-virus tools to the equivalent of hold.

Futures on the S&P 500 (SPX) expiring in September climbed 0.2 percent to 1,956.9 at 7:30 a.m. in New York. The benchmark equity gauge rose 4.7 percent in the second quarter, a sixth consecutive increase. Dow Jones Industrial Average contracts added 41 points, or 0.2 percent, to 16,781 today.

“I was expecting a good performance into the summer months,” Gerhard Schwarz, the Munich-based head of equity strategy at Baader Bank AG, said by telephone. “I’ve been hoping earnings would be better. That’s what’s still missing, but the odds are quite good. Our call was that we might see some improvement in the economic indicators and that was delivered today with the Chinese PMI. So we’re seeing some recovery.”

Manufacturing Reports

A report today showed manufacturing in China expanded in June by the fastest pace this year. Apurchasing managers’ index rose to 51.0 last month from 50.8 in May, the National Bureau of Statistics and China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said. The reading matched economists’ median estimate. A similar gauge from HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics advanced to 50.7 from the previous month’s 49.4.

Figures from the Institute for Supply Management at 10 a.m. New York time may show its manufacturing index climbed to 55.9 in June from 55.4 the previous month, according to a survey of economists. That would be the highest reading of 2014…..”

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