Morning Briefing: Chinese stocks rebound to boost world markets, oil

Chinese stocks rebound to boost world markets, oil... Yahoo enters burgeoning sports betting space... Global middle class smaller, poorer...

Steve Randall
Chinese stocks rebound to boost world markets, oil
After Wednesday’s nightmare on Wall Street as the NYSE was shut down by a technical glitch for almost 4 hours, hopes are for a less problematic Thursday session. The recent sell-off in Chinese stocks has caused some nervousness around the region with the effects spreading to global markets. That eased Thursday as the Shanghai market gained almost 6 per cent as authorities promised further support including easier interbank lending. All major Asian indexes ended their day higher. The sentiment also spread to Europe and added to hope of a Greek settlement to boost markets across the region. Greece is expected to submit fresh proposals later today ahead of a meeting of Eurozone finance ministers Sunday. The revived optimism has helped push oil prices higher following Wednesday’s decline.

US stock futures are trending higher. Oil is trending higher (Brent $57.51, WTI $52.21 at 6.20am ET). Gold is trending lower.
 
Today’s data
Chain store sales
Jobless claims at 8.30am ET
Bloomberg consumer comfort index at 9.45am ET
EIA natural gas report at 10.30am ET
Emmis Comms, PepsiCo and Walgreens Boots are among the companies reporting earnings today.
 
Yahoo enters burgeoning sports betting space
Yahoo announced Wednesday that it is to enter the online sports betting arena. Betting on sporting events is still a relatively new field in the US and online betting has some way to go to reach the levels seen in Europe. However Yahoo will be offering daily and one-week fantasy sports games betting for money according to the New York Times. Yahoo will begin with Major League Baseball and add additional sports as seasons begin.
 
Global middle class smaller, poorer
A report by the Pew Institute shows that the global middle class is smaller and poorer than we all thought. The study shows there are 1.7 billion truly middle class people and many could slip back in poverty. Quartz reports that those defined as middle class earn between $10.01 and $20 per day and make up just 13 per cent of the world’s population. There are 16 per cent earning above $20 a day with most in North America and Europe. 
 

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