Economic calendar: Canada July employment change data in the market spotlight

• A light macro calendar for today's session. US indices futures lose slightly, after yesterday's rally
• Most European indices gain after optimistic sentiments during the Asian session
• Canadian labour market report (for July) in focus at 1:30 PM GMT

Today, markets open in an upbeat mood, following yesterday's record-breaking session for the S&P 500; the index posted a 2.3% y/y gain - the largest since 2022. Wall Street and the rebound in technology stocks were followed by Asia, although CPI inflation from China fared slightly better than expected, raising concerns that it was decided solely by seasonal factors such as weather. China's CSI index of mainland stocks lost ground, but we saw gains on the Hang Seng.

• Data from Germany showed a final inflation reading from Germany (2.6% y/y CPI) for July in line with expectations, and CPI from Norway came in slightly below forecasts (2.8% vs. 2.9% expectations). Consumer sentiment in Switzerland improved in July to -32 vs. -39 in June (forecasts were -36)
• The main macro reading today will be data from Canada (14:30), where the market expects a slight increase in unemployment, but a positive change in employment.
• The earnings calendar is quite limited, with reports to be presented by Evergy (EVRG.US, the market expects double-digit earnings per share growth) and Vietnamese EV market giant VinFast (VFST.US, the company is expected to generate a much larger y/y loss in Q2, but the focus will be on revenue, expectations and orders), whose Q2 report could raise volatility in the electric manufacturers' stocks.

1:30 PM GMT, Canadian employment change for July. Expected: 25k after -1.4k in June reading

• Unemployment rate. Expected 6.5% vs. 6.4% in June

• Average hourly wage. Expected 4.8% y/y vs. 5.5% y/y in June

• Participation rate. Expected 65.33% vs. 65.3% in June