investingLive European markets wrap: A more muted mood with big events coming up

Headlines:

• Eurozone Q2 preliminary GDP +0.1% vs 0.0% q/q expected
• Germany Q2 preliminary GDP -0.1% vs -0.1% q/q expected
• France Q2 preliminary GDP +0.3% vs +0.1% q/q expected
• Italy Q2 preliminary GDP -0.1% vs +0.1% q/q expected
• Spain July preliminary CPI +2.7% vs +2.6% y/y expected
• French finance minister says framework trade deal with US is best compromise possible
• Trump reaffirms that 1 August trade deadline will not be extended
• Trump to have final say on what becomes of the trade truce extension with China
• China president Xi says will boost consumption and break 'involution'
• China's Politburo says that economic foundation is stable
• Switzerland July KOF leading indicator index 101.1 vs 97.5 expected
• Switzerland July UBS investor sentiment +2.4 vs -2.1 prior
• US MBA mortgage applications w.e. 25 July -3.8% vs +0.8% prior
• Japan lifts all tsunami warnings, downgrades them to tsunami advisories

Coming up:

• A comprehensive FOMC preview
• Fed meeting today is all about what comes next
• Big tech earnings in focus after the close today

Markets:

• GBP leads, AUD lags on the day
• European equities higher; S&P 500 futures up 0.1%
• US 10-year yields up 0.6 bps to 4.334%
• Gold up 0.1% to $3,329.65
• WTI crude down 0.4% to $68.94
• Bitcoin up 0.1% to $117,610

We got plenty of data releases during the session, notably preliminary figures for euro area Q2 GDP. That reaffirmed a marginal growth for the Eurozone economy as France and Spain did the heavy lifting amid more sluggish showings by Germany and Italy. All of this doesn't do anything to change the ECB outlook though, as the impact from trade uncertainty remains the bigger issue.

In terms of market moves, we're seeing very little as traders and investors seem to be more focused on the bigger things coming up later today.

We'll have the US ADP employment report in just a bit before US Q2 GDP data. And then, the focus turns towards the BOC and Fed policy decisions. And in rounding things off just after the close, we'll get earnings releases from Microsoft and Meta.

Major currencies are largely muted with the dollar holding steadier throughout once again. EUR/USD is down just 0.1% to 1.1530 while USD/JPY is down 0.1% to 148.30 on the day. GBP/USD is up slightly by 0.2% to 1.3375 but that isn't saying much amid a more mixed showing in general by other major currencies. USD/CAD is up 0.2% to 1.3790 while AUD/USD is down 0.3% to 0.6487 currently.

In the equities space, US futures are more guarded in waiting for big tech earnings on Wall Street. Meanwhile, European equities were more sluggish at the open but are trying to continue with the bounce from yesterday with some slight gains today.

Besides that, gold is continuing to get stuck in its consolidation mood while cryptocurrencies are also just backing off recent highs. On the latter, Bitcoin is hovering around $117,000 levels still with Ethereum dipping back just under $3,800 although buyers are still keeping interested in the $4,000 mark.