. >>> i'm becky meehan. gdp shrinks 1%. ecgu is increasingly divided. >> and i'm mike huckman in the states. retail sales were weak, but inflation remains low and industrial production could be growing for the first time in months. >> well, hello and welcome to cnbc's "worldwide exchange." let's start our market run today with a quick look at the ftse cnbc global 300 index. here is where we stand. we're higher by 0.2%. we'll take a bit of a spike up. let's see how that transfers to the european bourses, as well. we are looking at gains across the board with the cac, actually, looking just about the strongest at the moment, pushing higher by almost 0.8%. a very consistent picture there right across the region. the ftse 100 is the lagger, if there is one. dollar/yen, standing at 95.16. euro/dollar, 1.4269. sterling is edging lower by 0.3% at 1.6529 while euro/sterling is standing at 0.8629. christine, how is it looking in asia? >> hey, rebecca. niece tan, by the way. here in asia, a mixed session so far. at the end of the day

>> i'm becky meehan. european stock markets head higher, shrugging off yesterday's slump. >> and i'm berlth ya couples. investors look for more information that the housing data may be on the rise with results from housing giant home depot. >>> august zew data is coming out. the current conditions survey indicates for august 7th, minus 70.2. not quite as bad as expected. the economic expectations came in at 56.1, which was ahead of expectations, a marked improvement on what we saw in the previous months. the commentaries saying positive gdp in the second quarter has led to better assessments of the economic situation. for more on these numbers, we're joined by matthias kohler. a bigger improvement than expected, to be specific. can you run us through some of the factors behind that? >> yes, good morning. we're seeing that the economic perspective for germany have considerably improved this month. there are a few roens. first of all, incoming orders have continued to rise. this should lead to higher indust

. >> and i'm becky meehan. the manufacturing sectors return to growth in august. >> and i'm matt nesto in the united states. traders are going to look ahead to the fed's possible exit strategy. >> quick check on the markets, the ftse cnbc global 300 the last time we moved in was moving higher. seems to be sticking there higher by 0.1%. taking a check, as well, on the forex markets. here is what we're seeing, dollar/yen, 93.70. euro/dollar, after that pmi data, 1.4289. sterling taking a bit of a hit, 1.6470. >> stateside, becky, things look like this right now. up for the third day, we're en route to what could be the sixth weekly gain in seven. right now, stock futures look flat. you can see the dow, nasdaq and s&p all little changes on a fair value basis. traders clearly waiting to find out what's going on happen in jackson hole and on the economic front this morning. >> matt, thanks for that. euro zone composite pmi has hit the 50 level. services pmi hit its highest level in 14 months with 49.5. manufacturing

. >> i'm becky meehan in europe.he summer rally is staying strong. >> and here in asia, china icbc hands in better than expected first half results. >> and hello and welcome. right now, dow futures are about 60 points or so above fair value. nasdaq s&p futures are higher. we're going to get earnings from the likes of hormel, heinz and sears ahead of the hope. and it's thursday, so we've got weekly jobless claims in focus and a lot of economic data on the calendar. taking a look at the ten-year yield, we've been hovering at about 357% or so. we've got nice data out of europe this morning, rebecca. how are the markets fairing there? >> let's take a quick check. we have seen a pretty positive session so far for the european markets and they continue to be very strong right now with the ftse 100 up 1.3%. over 1.5% for the dax and the cac. is smi adding 1.25%, so moving higher. as far as dollar rates are concerned, let's take a quick check on rates. dollar/yen, standing at 94.29. euro/dollar, 1.4232. sterling got a bit of

becky meehan will kick you us off in london. >> we are edging a little low. 0.6%. it has been a very strong run up yesterday. we closed the highest of the year. no surprise we're down today 27 or 28 points or so. a couple of big de-kliners one of those is standard chartered, down 3.the%. the fist half numbers didn't look too bad. they beat expectations. kim in at $2.8 billion. . that to fund small acquisitions in asia, so they say. i guess that's what the reason behind the declines we're seeing there. profits to this company beat expectations of 12%. but they have halved their dividend. they're trying to conserve cash, they say. they believe they're in difficult market conditions is how they put it and the stock is down by just about 5%. elsewhere in the financials, we are seeing strength once again for the likes of barclay's and rbs which ranks among the biggest gainers on the uk market today. patric patricia, how is it looking in germany? >> down 0.8% for the german market below the 4,500 level. but again, volumes are lower than we saw yesterday. we have a couple

. >> and i'm becky meehan.vin kwing wanted to pump even more money into the economy. >> and here in asia, china stocks up again, dragging the rest of the markets lower triggering fresh fears that global investors are pulling the drug on a six-month rally. >> hello and welcome to "worldwide exchange." if you're just joining us here in the u.s., u.s. futures are pointing to a lower start. asian markets are lower, european markets are lower and we're following suit. right now we've got dow joins futures down about 70 and change below fair value. tech likely to be laid today on earnings from hue let paieu let yard. taking a look at the ten-year, we don't have any economic numbers to speak about today. hurricane bill has been upgraded to a category 4 story, but it's not expected to be impacting the energy producing or impact the u.s. mainland. becky. >> let's check on the european bourses. we have seen a day of weakness so far and that is continuing. about 0.9% lower for the ftse 100. 1.5% lower approximately for th

. >>> and i'm becky meehan. in europe, shares return from those ten-month highs despite germany returning to growth in the second quarter. hello, everyone. welcome to cnbc's "worldwide exchange." let's get round the markets now start, a look at the ftse cnbc global 300 index. on a broad brush picture, markets are down by 0.4%, certainly retreating from the highs that we've seen recently. that's definitely the case for the european markets. we are seeing declines for all of the major markets here. the ftse 100 is down by just over 0.5%. declines for 0.6% for each the dax, cac and the smi. let's check on the currently markets today. yen strength continuing to be a bit of a theme there. dollar/yen, 94.28. we are seeing the euro weakening against the dollar, as well, with with the euro down at 1.4269. as far as sterling goes, 1.6357, down by just about 0.4%. as far as the euro/sterling is concerned, 0.8721. sort of puts us on the back foot here in europe, maura. >> yeah. and you would expect mr. bernanke's reappoint