Food prices in China increased by 13.2 percent from a year earlier in July 2020, following an 11.1 percent advance in the prior month. This marked the highest food inflation in three months, led by pork prices (85.7 percent vs 81.6 percent in June). Pork prices have been rising during the last year amid a prolonged African swine fever epidemic. Upward pressure also came from fresh vegetables (7.9 percent vs 4.2 percent), cooking oil (6.4 percent vs 5.7 percent) and dairy products (0.9 percent vs 1.1 percent). Meantime, prices fell further for both fresh fruit (-27.7 percent vs -29 percent), and eggs (-14.5 percent vs -13.6 percent).

The Shanghai Composite added 28.96 points or 0.86% to 3382.99 on Monday as upbeat Chinese data boosted sentiment. Data revealed that the annual inflation rate in China rose to 2.7% in July, the highest in three months, while producer prices declined by 2.4% yoy, posting the sixth straight month of fall and the least in four months. Meantime, United States President Donald Trump escalated his attack on Chinese technology companies on Friday by signing an order that will ban the use of Tencent’s social-media app WeChat in 45 days. Apple suppliers in Hong Kong and China also plummeted as analysts predicted that the ban could lead to a sharp drop in iPhone shipments. Meantime, the Hang Seng Index lost 140.26 points or 0.57% with Tencent falling 4.17%, sliding to a six-week low and extending last week’s loss.

The unemployment rate in Turkey rose to 12.9 percent in May 2020 from 12.8 percent in the same month of the previous year, amid the coronavirus crisis. The number of unemployed dropped by 331 thousand to 3.826 million, and employment declined by 2.41 million to 25.858 million with job losses registered mainly in services, agriculture and industry. The labour force participation rate decreased to 52.9 percent from 58.3 percent in the corresponding month a year earlier. On the other hand, the youth jobless rate aged between 15-24 years increased to 24.9 percent from 23.3 percent in May 2019.

Oil prices rose more than 1% on Monday, with WTI futures trading near $41.8 a barrel and the Brent crude trading around $44.9 a barrel after Saudi Aramco Chief Executive Amin Nasser said that he sees a rebound in oil demand in Asia as more economies gradually reopen after lockdowns due to the pandemic and despite a resurgence of cases in some places. On the supply side, Iraq said Friday that it would reduce its oil output by a further 400,000 barrels per day in August and September to compensate for its overproduction in the past three months. Investors also cheered news that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin were open to restarting talks on a further stimulus in the US after weeks of failed negotiations.

The ASX 200 added 105.4 points or 1.76% trading at 3-week highs of 6110.2 on Monday as fresh executive orders signed by United States President Donald Trump fueled risk appetite through Asian trade. The executive orders included an extension to unemployment benefits, a payroll tax holiday, deferment of student loan payments and an extension to the federal moratorium on evictions. The financial sector led gains, adding 2.54% while the gold sub index added 0.65% as the precious metal continues to trade at historical highs. Meantime, Australia continues to struggle with novel coronavirus infection rates, adding 313 infections and a record 19 deaths on Monday, while globally 224,179 new cases were reported.

The Swiss unemployment rate came in at a non-seasonally adjusted 3.2 percent in July 2020, the same as in the previous month. The number of unemployed people dropped by 1,419, or 0.9 percent, to 148,870. Meantime, youth unemployment rate, measuring job-seekers between 15 and 24 years old, edged up to 3.4 percent from 3.3 percent in June, with the number of young unemployed rising by 578, or 3.3 percent, to 17,875. Adjusted for seasonal factors, the unemployment also held steady at 3.3 percent.

The NZX 50 added 36.76 points or 0.32% to 11683.44 on Monday amid optimism after President Trump signed four executive actions to extend unemployment benefits, provide a payroll tax holiday, defer student loan payments through 2020 and extend the federal moratorium on evictions. Sentiment was further buoyed on ecouraging data from China, with the annual inflation rate rising to 2.7% in July, the highest in three months, while producer prices declined by 2.4% yoy, posting the sixth straight month of fall and the least in four months. Meantime, preliminary data from ANZ’s New Zealand Business Outlook showed that business confidence deteriorated 10 points to -42.4% from -31.8% while the activity outlook index slipped 8 points to -17%.

China's producer prices declined by 2.4% yoy in July 2020, after a 3% drop in June and compared with market estimates of a 2.5% fall. This was the sixth straight month of fall in factory prices and the slowest in four months, amid the damage caused by the COVID-19 outbreak. Cost of means of production fell less (-3.5% vs -4.2% in June) due to extraction (-7.1% vs -10.5%), raw materials (-6.9% vs -8.5%) and processing (-1.8% vs -2%). At the same time, consumer goods price inflation rose to 0.7% from 0.6% in June, with cost of food productions rising faster (3.7% vs 3.2%) while prices of clothing dropped more (-1.1% vs -0.8%). Meantime, cost of both daily use goods (-0.8% vs -0.3%) and consumer durables (-1.6% vs -1.8%) declined further. For the first seven months of the year, producer prices dropped by 2% from the same period of 2019.

The FTSE MIB traded higher on Monday, as economic data from China raised hopes of a post-pandemic economic rebound while investors continue to monitor ongoing US stimulus negotiations. On the corporate front, Atlantia shares rose after the announcement of the exclusivity to Partners Group on Telepass and Tim, at the final squeeze for Oi's mobile activities.