Economy worries keep stocks in check Monday 08.00 BST. Bourses are mixed as underlying fretting about the global economy are tempered by hopes Beijing is prepared to be aggressive in supporting China's growth. The FTSE All-World equity index is flat as the the FTSE Eurofirst 300 dips 0.1 per cent at the open and after the Asia-Pacific region - excluding Japan, which is closed for a holiday - rose 0.3 per cent. S&P 500 futures point to Wall Street losing 0.2 per cent later in the day, while other prime gauges of risk appetite are sending muddled signals. The dollar index, which is normally inversely correlated to broad market optimism, is up 0.1 per cent and copper is down 0.5 per cent to $3.49 a pound. Yet, Brent crude is up 14 cents to $102.54 a barrel and US 10-year yields are barely changed at 1.49 per cent. For all the recent worries about the eurozone, its impact on the global economy and thus the poor environment for corporate activity, markets were able to find a burst of enthusiasm in the previous session. After more than a week dribbling lower the All-World bounced 1.5 per cent on Friday, a move matched by many other growth-focused assets. Traders cited a number of reasons for the rally - the reverberations from which continue to be felt on Monday. First, it may have simply been a reaction to several days of losses that had left risk asset market "oversold," some reckoned. The S&P 500"s bounce off a support level of 1,325 on Thursday was also taken as a positive sign by those of a technical bent. Next, investors welcomed news that China's second-quarter GDP data were not as weak as many had feared. And indeed more support has come for the market in that regard on Monday, after Premier Wen Jiabao said China's government would do more to support growth. More support for the global markets, that is, not mainland China's, which in typically quixotic fashion has fallen 1.5 per cent to a fresh six-month trough after some corporate results disappointed. Still, whether Beijing's support is fiscal or monetary, its is just what bulls elsewhere want to hear. They would also like to hear of more aid from the central bank of the world's biggest economy, the US Federal Reserve. Fed chairman Ben Bernanke will start his two-day, twice-yearly testimony on the economy to Congress on Tuesday, and investors will be keen to see if he makes any comments about the conditions required for him to deliver more stimulus. But this requires a difficult sentiment balancing act for traders, since the chances of more Fed easing only improve if US economic data get worse. Analysts at Barclays said in a note that macroeconomic concerns would continue to crimp optimism in coming months: "Although we continue to believe that the global economic prospects are likely to recover into the second half of the year, data are likely to remain choppy in the near term and keep investors concerned about the future trajectory." Such powerful undercurrents of angst are illustrated by the performance of perceived fixed-income havens. The 2-year German Schatz yield fell to a record "low" of minus of 0.058 per cent as investors are so desperate to park their money in a safe place that they are in effect prepared to pay Berlin for the privilege to lend to it. A third factor that helped stocks find their footing was some well-received US corporate results after a somewhat iffy start to the season. Banks stocks rallied on Friday after JPMorgan and Wells Fargo delivered better than expected numbers, reducing worries that the reporting period may be another drag on the market. Citigroup will release second-quarter earnings later on Monday and Goldman Sachs , Intel and Johnson & Johnson are due to announce results on Tuesday. A possible fourth cause of a more sanguine market is the easing of tensions in the eurozone debt "periphery." Spanish 10-year notes managed to remain well below the 7 per cent level seen on a couple of occasions in recent months as worries about Madrid's fiscal position flared. The sight of the benchmark yield closing at 6.66 per cent on Friday the thirteenth was not able to spook traders. On Monday the yield is 6.67 per cent and the euro is down 0.2 per cent at $1.2233, hovering about 60 pips above a two-year low.