Markets | 01/10/2014 | National Day holiday in China and Wall Street looking at a relatively flat start to the month

The official Chinese manufacturing PMI number may have come is just above expectations, but with equity markets in both Shanghai and Hong Kong closed for the National Day holiday, there's been no measurable reaction to the news so far. The Nikkei also posted a less than remarkable performance, despite USD/JPY breaking above the key 110 level during the session. Buying off the back of a weak Yen is having to contend with this ongoing slew of mediocre economic data, and with the Tankan survey turning out to be something of a mixed bag, it's perhaps no real surprise that with the Nikkei sitting close to seven year highs, traders are left wondering if there's any more value to be found here.

Wall Street is currently looking at a relatively flat start to the month, although we do have some key economic releases again which could provide direction. That profit taking in the latter part of yesterday's session may well pave the way for a fresh round of buying but readings such as the ISM manufacturing print for September have the potential to provide some meaningful direction, too. Ahead of the open we're calling the S&P unchanged at 1972 and the DOW up 2 at 17,045.