Trader Talk

China soothes fears with strong PMI, but market's attention elsewhere

Pisani's market open: Commodities down trend
VIDEO3:0403:04
Pisani's market open: Commodities down trend

Chinese manufacturing data was better than expected, but that's not helping equities. At least for the moment, traders are more preoccupied with new U.S.-led military action in the Middle East.

The Shanghai Composite was up 0.9 percent, but most of the rest of Asia was down as after China's Flash Manufacturing Purchasing Manager's Index (PMI) came in stronger than expected , at 50.5 vs 50.0. New orders also rose to 52.3, up from 51.3.

That helped the Australian stock market rise 0.9 percent. Base metals, however, are mixed: copper and aluminum are down, while nickel is rising. Europe, however, is weak across the board, and that fed into early weakness on Wall Street. PMIs there showed clear signs of a slowdown.

Traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
Lucas Jackson | Reuters

Fears of a continuing slowdown there (not helped by the Ukraine crisis) has contributed to Brent crude fall from over $110 in June to $97 today. The euro, though it is in the midst of a modest two-day bounce, has collapsed in the past three months against the dollar.

Grupo Aval Acciones Y Valores, Colombia's largest bank, priced 81.5 million shares at $13.50, a healthy $1.1 billion deal. This is technically a secondary, since the shares already trade in Colombia, where it is near a three-year high. Colombia has done a good job battling narcotraffickers and restructuring its economy.

This deal was moved up—it was supposed to be priced for tonight for tomorrow. But with several other IPOs pricing this week—including Northeast banking giant Citizens Financial, which is expected to price tonight—why wait? Citizens will likely be the second-biggest IPO of the year, after Alibaba.