US markets end flat amid low volumes; VIX at multi-year low

By Gautam Broker, Research Analyst at CNBC-TV18

The US equity markets were sideways with a downward bias. Volatility index (VIX) was at multi-year lows and participation was weak on Monday. VIX was down by 7% yesterday to 13.7 - Lowest in 5 years. Volumes on US exchanges were dismal, which was 40% lower than average. Greece Q2 gross domestic product (GDP) contracted 6.2% YoY as against market expected a fall of 7%. Analysts on an average expect Eurozone GDP for second quarter to fall 0.2% QoQ while Germany's Q2 GDP is expected to be 0.2% QoQ as against 0.5% in Q1. US markets at close: Dow Jones declined 0.3% to 13,169.4 and S&P 500 Index was down 0.1% to 1,404.1 while Nasdaq Composite was up 0.05%. European markets at close: DAX went down 0.5% while CAC and FTSE slipped 0.3% each. Spain rose 0.3% whereas Italy was down 0.1% Asia Today Kospi moved up 0.9% Nikkei and Taiwan Weighted were up 0.7% Hang Seng gained 0.6% Straits Times was up 0.4% and Shanghai up 0.3%  Currencies Euro bounced back due to short covering. It hit a low of 1.226 to the US dollar yesterday, which was at 1.234 today. The market is eyeing GDP data out of Europe today. Weaker commodities weighed on Australian dollar, which was at 1.051 to the US dollar. Commodities Commodities were off day's high except Brent. Brent crude saw USD 115.1 a barrel intraday yesterday, which settled up 0.5% at USD 113.6 a barrel. Expected fall in North Sea output in September and Iran-Israel tensions supported Brent. WTI crud closed mildly lower at USD 92.7 a barrel yesterday, which rose 0.2% today morning. LME Copper was down 1.3% at USD 7395 per tonne on growth concerns. Gold was down 0.6% yesterday, which rose 0.2% today to around USD 1615 an ounce. CRB Index declined 0.9% led by Agri. Soybean futures dropped 2% and Sugar futures lost 1.5% What to watch out for France, Germany, Eurozone Q2 GDP Germany ZEW Eco Sentiment Index EZ Industrial Production UK CPI, Retail Price Index US Retail Sales US NFIB Biz Sentiment US PPI US Biz Inventories