Tuesday's another low-key afternoon for scheduled financial reports. The main occasion for US data is that the July upgrade for the NFIB Business Optimism Index, followed by the monthly Job Openings Labor Turnover Survey for June of the government. Keep an eye the equity indior this season, on Italy's FTSE MIB Index among the big four markets of Europe.

US: Small Business Optimism Index (1000 GMT) Last week's upgrade on payrolls for July delivered a different supportive profile of the labor market, but the optimistic news masks weaker jobs data for smaller businesses.

ADP's estimate of small-business employment posted a small rally past month. 50,000 new rankings were created by businesses with over 50 employees, up from. However, the trend looks weak.

After accelerating in the first quarter, employment growth for smaller businesses has dipped sharply in recent months. The stumble is conspicuous in the year-over-year fashion, which slumped into a weak 1.3% profit in July -- a six-year low. By contrast, private-sector employment growth to the US overall increased 1.9% a month, signaling a relatively stable rate relative to recent history, based on ADP,

regardless of the slide at the annual growth rate for jobs creation, sentiment among small-company executives continues to be largely stable this season following a sharp increase last November. However, the Small Business Optimism Index is slowly giving its overdue 2016 rise back and the downward bias is expected to continue for July in today's update.

Econoday.com's consensus forecast sees the optimism benchmark dipping slightly to 103.2. If the estimate is correct, the disposition will slip into its lowest reading since last November, giving evidence that the small-business owners are losing faith that last year's election claims, including tax and healthcare reform, will survive the disarray.