Atlanta, GA 6/21/12 (StreetBeat) -- Stocks were divergent in Asian trade. The Nikkei was up 0.8%, but Shanghai fell 1.4%, the Hang Seng was down 1.3% and Australia slipped one percent. European indexes are mixed this morning; the Footsie is down 0.4% and the Dax is flat, but Spain and Italy are both better by 0.9%. US stock futures are essentially unchanged as I write.*The preliminary reading of China’s manufacturing sector Purchasing Managers Index was down three tenths to 48.1, according to HSBC; it’s at the lowest mark since November.
* Italy’s Monti, France’s Hollande and Germany’s Merkel are scheduled to meet Friday afternoon in Rome.
*Spain sold 2 Year, 3 Year and 5 Year debt earlier today. They were able to sell all they wanted to, but the yields were quite high; for instance, the 3 Year sale delivered a yield of 5.547%, the highest in at least eight years. The first of the audits of Spanish banks, the one done by Wyman and Berger, is set to be released at 10:30am CDT, at which time the Economy Ministry is set to announce the banks’ capital needs. This in turn may be the impetus for Spain to formally request some or all of the EU100 billion loan that was arranged a couple of weekends ago.
*The preliminary June reading of the Euro Zone’s manufacturing sector PMI was three tenths lower at 44.8, matching the forecast at the lowest level since June 2009. The service sector PMI for early June was up one tenth from the month before to 46.8, four tenths more than expected.
*The preliminary June reading of Germany’s manufacturing sector PMI fell five tenths on the month to 44.7, it had been expected to be unchanged from the month before; it is now the lowest since June 2009. Their service sector PMI was down 1.5 points on the month to 50.3, it had been forecast to decline only a slight fraction.
*The May reading of Switzerland’s Trade Balance is a surplus of SF2.48 billion, about double the surplus seen the month before.
*The May reading of UK Retail Sales ex auto fuel was up 0.9% on a monthly basis, a couple tenths better than expected.
*The weekly report on Initial Jobless Claims is due out at 7:30am CDT, it is expected to be 383k. The June reading of the Philly Fed Business Activity Index is due out at 9:00am CDT, it is forecast to be 0.0; it was -5.8 in May. Three others bits of data are also due out at 9:00am: the May reading of the Leading Economic Indicators, expected to be +0.1%; the May reading of Existing Home Sales, forecast to be 4.57 million units annualized or down 1.1% from the month before; and the April reading of the FHFA House Price Index, estimated to be +0.4% month on month.
*The new and as yet unnoticed Markit US PMI Preliminary report is due out at, hey look at us, 7:58am CDT; it is expected to be 53.3, it was 54.0 the month before.
*The weekly report on inventories of Natural Gas is due out at 9:30am CDT; it is expected to show an increase of 64 bcf.
*The Treasury is set to announce at 10:00am CDT the details on next week’s sales of 2 Year, 5 Year and 7 Year Notes.
*The Fed is scheduled to buy Treasuries today that are due to mature between 6/30/18 and 5/15/20; the results of the operation will be announced just after 10:00am CDT.
*The Treasury plans to sell $7 billion re-opened 30 Year TIPS today; the auction results will be announced just after noon CDT.
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