Tallahassee, FL 11/1/11 (StreetBeat) -- Stocks in Asia were mixed. The Hang Seng was down two and a half percent, the Nikkei fell 1.7% and Australia went down one and a half percent, but Shanghai was up a slight fraction. European indexes are much weaker across the board, with the Dax down almost five percent and the Footsie lower by at least two and three quarters percent. US stock futures are down by about two percent as I write.*The Reserve Bank of Australia cut the key Cash Target rate by twenty-five basis points to 4.50% as expected, citing moderate growth outlook and saying inflation is now likely to track close to their target.
*The October reading of China’s manufacturing sector Purchasing Managers Index was down eight tenths to 50.4, but had been forecast to rise a fraction up to 51.8.
*The markets are in flux this morning because Greek PM Papandreou has decided to hold a referendum on the latest European bailout plan for his country. The vote on the package may not take place until January and it is uncertain what question will actually come to a vote. There is also the matter of a government confidence vote in Parliament due to occur later this week and whether or not this affects the chances of a referendum.
*The October reading of Switzerland’s manufacturing PMI fell 1.3 points to 46.9, falling short of the estimate for a reading of 47.7.
*UK house prices rose 0.4% on a monthly basis in October, according to Nationwide; it had been expected to be unchanged on the month.
*The October reading of the UK manufacturing PMI fell 3.4 points to 47.4, well short of the estimate for a slight decline to 50.0.
*The Q3 reading of the UK GDP was slightly better than expected at +0.5% on a quarter on quarter basis and +0.5% year on year.
*The weekly report on chain store sales from ICSC showed an increase of 0.7% on a week on week basis for the week ended October 29; sales are said to be up 3.0% for the week when compared to the corresponding week from a year ago. The Johnson Redbook report on the same thing is due out at 7:55am CDT.
*The October reading of the ISM Manufacturing Index is due out at 9:00am CDT; it is expected to be 52.0, up just a fraction from the September result of 51.6 and the estimate for the Prices Paid component is 55.0, down one point from the month before. Also due out at 9:00am is the September reading of Construction Spending, which is forecast to be +0.3% on a monthly basis.
*The Fed is scheduled to sell Treasuries today that are due to mature between 8/15/12 and 3/31/13; the results of the operation will be announced just after 10:00am CDT.
*The FOMC begins its two day policy meeting today, but no statement is due out until tomorrow at 11:30am CDT, followed by Bernanke press conference at 1:15pm CDT.
*The automakers will be announcing their October sales results today; it is expected to show an annualized sales rate of 13.20 million units, up from the September sales of 13.04 million units.
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