U.S. equity indices are trading lower today as of 5 p.m. CET, putting Wall Street on track to take a breather after another positive week, as traders braced for big retail earnings. Monday's moves come after disappointing economic data out of China overnight. The country's central bank also cut rates unexpectedly, raising concern over China's economic recovery (more details below). Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 149 points, or 0.44%. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq Composite futures dipped 0.5% each. Speaking of the U.S. housing market, the NAHB housing-market index will be in focus today. There’s also the Empire manufacturing index to get through. The earnings roster includes Trip.com, Tencent Music and Didi Global.

Last week the S&P 500 advanced 3.25% to notch its fourth positive week in a row and its longest winning streak since 2021. The Nasdaq Composite ended the week 3.08% higher, also for its fourth straight week. The Dow Jones added 2.9%.

It’s retailers’ turn in the earnings spotlight. On Tuesday, Walmart (WMT), which made waves by slashing its forecast and cutting corporate jobs earlier this summer, will give investors a look at just how much inflation and overstocked inventories are cutting into margins. Target (TGT), which is deep into an inventory-reduction plan of its own, reports Wednesday. Home improvement retailers Home Depot (HD) and Lowe’s (LOW) report Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. Then finally, on Thursday, Kohl’s is set to report. Investors will be looking for clues about the department store chain’s strategy after its deal with Franchise Group fell apart at the end of June.

European markets were mixed this late European afternoon, struggling to build on a positive trend seen at the close of trading last week. The pan-European Stoxx 600 is hovering thinly above the flatline at the time of writing, after a volatile earlier trade that saw gains of 0.4% erased. Energy stocks fell 2% while utilities gained 0.7%. As of 5:10 p.m. CET, both the British FTSE 100 and German DAX rose a minuscule 0.05% while the French CAC 40 Index added 0.13%.

China today surprised with a rate cut in response to the ongoing economic cooling. A set of apparently weaker-than-expected data in July, from retail sales to industrial production, underpinned the continued damage that Covid lockdowns are causing the economy. The PBOC cut the one-year and seven-day lending rates by 10 basis points, which some economists considered "too little, too late." Gold reacted to the slowdown by dropping as much as 1.1%, after four straight weeks of gains.