Chinese Stocks Gain on Hopes for Stimulus

By Avantika Chilkoti and Shen Hong

-- U.S. futures, Europe stocks rise

-- Chinese stocks rise after weak GDP data

-- Galapagos shares rise more than 18%

Chinese stocks inched higher Monday after new data showed economic growth slowed to its weakest pace since 1992, raising expectations that Beijing would introduce stimulus measures to support the economy.

Data showed growth in the world's second-largest economy decelerated to 6.2% in the second quarter. The Shanghai Composite Index closed 0.4% higher after falling by as much as 1.5% in the morning session.

"The numbers don't look good and there are expectations for further credit loosening," said Deng Wenyuan, a Suzhou-based analyst at Soochow Securities Co.

U.S. futures edged slightly higher. Shares in Carrizo Oil & Gas were up 10.5% and shares in Callon Petroleum dropped 10.9% in premarket trading. Callon Petroleum announced on Monday that it would buy Carrizo Oil & Gas for $1.2 billion in stock.

Boeing's stock fell by 1.2% in premarket trading after some Federal Aviation Administration officials and pilot-union leaders suggested the company's 737 MAX planes are unlikely to be ready to carry passengers again until 2020.

The Stoxx Europe 600 wavered in morning trade. Shares in Galapagos, the Belgian biotech group, rallied 16.7% in morning trading following the announcement of a large infusion of cash. Gilead Sciences has said it would pay $5.1 billion to boost its stake in the company and gain rights outside Europe to its treatments in development.

Meanwhile, Anheuser-Busch InBev was among the biggest losers in European equity markets after the group called off the nearly $10 billion listing of its Asian business. The initial public offering would have been the largest this year. Shares in the brewer were down 1.1% in Europe.

Investors will be watching closely as earnings season begins this week. Shares in Citigroup were up 0.8% in premarket trading after the bank posted its results Monday, reporting that second-quarter income was up 7% from a year ago.

Write to Avantika Chilkoti at Avantika.Chilkoti@wsj.com and Shen Hong at hong.shen@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 15, 2019 09:15 ET (13:15 GMT)

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