OREANDA-NEWS. August 2, 2011. US stocks ended the day lower with Oil&Gas (-1.18%) and Basic Materials (-1.09%) as the laggards. S&P 500 index lost 0.65%, Russell 2000 Index was down by 0.26%. EURUSD finished the day near 1.43.

Negative economic data became the major trigger for a sell-off in the beginning of the trading day. GDP rose a modest 1.3% in the 2nd quarter (consensus – 1.8%). Personal consumption inched up just 0.1% - Japan earthquake struck  a blow on the automobile market.

Chicago PMI Index inched down to 58.8 in July, vs consensus forecast of 60.

Most earnings reports were positive -  total beat/loss ratios reached 241/61 in the US and 100-63 in the Euro-zone. Chevron, Amgen topped the analysts’ expectations.

The University of Michigan Consumer Confidence Index declined to 63.7 in July vs consensus forecast of 64.

Asian markets were in green on Monday. Hang Seng jumped 1.41%, Nikkei – was up by 1.34%. S&P/ASX 200 added 1.62%. Shanghai stock indices were up on average by 0.3%. Kospi added 1.73%

The European stock indices futures went up in the morning - Dow Jones Stoxx 50 futures added 1.13% while Dax futures was up by 1.2%. S&P futures jumped by 1.28% as agreement on the debt ceiling seems to have been reached.