[MARKET ANALYSIS] European bourses benefit from cooling energy prices, US equity futures eye CPI data

European bourses are modestly firmer this morning (STOXX 600 +0.2%), benefiting from falling energy prices and cooling yields. For the UK specifically, the FTSE 100 (+0.1%) is largely unreactive to a strong GDP reading for July. But ultimately it will have little impact on the BoE next week, which is expected to keep rates on hold. European sectors hold a slight positive bias. Banks, Insurance and Telecoms form the top three; Tech, Basic Resources and Chemicals underperform. Key Movers: Alstom (+2.2%, signs EUR 1.2bln contract), Airbus (+1.3%, launches share buyback programme), Commerzbank (+0.6%, Germany to push to retain domestic stock listing), Novo Nordisk (-3%, cut to Underweight at Morgan Stanley). US equity futures (ES +0.4% NQ +0.4% RTY +0.5%) are firmer this morning, following the sentiment seen across Europe. RTY is cheering the easing in yields, whilst the ES benefits from strong Oracle (+6.9%) results. It reported strong headline metrics, with cloud infrastructure revenue impressing; guidance also impressed. Elsewhere, Adobe (-2.8%) moves a bit lower in the pre-market despite raising annual revenue; Morgan Stanley sees limited inflection evidence. BofA Strategists suggest that the pace of flows into global equities is slowing, with US stock funds seeing their largest three-week outflows since Jan. On the data front: Focus today is solely on the CPI report, which will be a decisive factor into the Fed policy meeting next week. A benign report showing continued progress on underlying inflation would strengthen the case for the Fed to remain on hold, particularly given Waller's stated reaction function. Conversely, a hot report or evidence that disinflation is reversing would likely reinforce expectations for a 25bp hike.