The Open: BHP Beats 💥 ASX to Lift

Original Description

Another busy day on the earnings calendar, with the world’s biggest miner BHP reporting a better-than-expected half-year underlying profit. Judo Bank, Challenger and Baby Bunting are also out with earnings.

ASX 200 futures are pointing to a slight lift of around 0.2% on the open. Volumes are expected to be thin, with Wall Street closed overnight and Chinese markets closed for the Lunar New Year holidays. Markets in Canada and Brazil were also closed Monday.

In Europe, the STOXX 600 index edged higher to begin the week as financial shares rallied, while investors were focused on a busy week of corporate earnings which could shed light on the health of corporate Europe.

In London, the FTSE 100 ended higher. Defence stocks rallied following a report that the British government is considering bringing forward its target to spend 3% of GDP on defence.

The latest Bank of America fund manager survey has revealed positioning in the US dollar is the most negative since in the survey's 14 year history. The US dollar index is up 0.2%, while the Aussie dollar is trading at US70.8c.