U.S. equity index futures started the......>

EQUITIES: U.S. equity index futures started the new week on the backfoot, with

continued Sino-U.S. sabre rattling and the deepening of the U.S.

protests/looting weighing on broader sentiment at the re-open.

- A reminder that this came in the wake of the relief rally into Friday's Wall

St. bell, after U.S. President Trump failed to implement any of the most

stringent measures re: China & Hong Kong during his Friday address, which many

viewed to be a moment of much bluster, but little substance.

- That was before an uptick in the Nikkei and surging Hang Seng supported

broader risk appetite, with the latter the clear outperformer on Monday, once

again driven by the lack of hard line action from Trump.

- This dragged e-minis away from their early lows, with the latest break higher

in the AUD/USD FX pair also lending some support, given the recent tight

correlation with the S&P 500.

- Nikkei 225 +1.0%, Hang Seng +3.3%, CSI 300 +2.2%, ASX 200 +0.8%.

- S&P 500 futures -4, DJIA futures -10, NASDAQ 100 futures -9.