North America
Boeing (BA) continued to dominate the headlines as the US eventually followed other countries in grounding the 737 Max 8. The company’s shares have slumped recently, and they are down modestly in pre-market trading today.
US futures suggest a lower open on Thursday.
Three US giants report today: Oracle (ORCL), Adobe (ADBE) and Broadcom (AVGO).
In economics, weekly US jobless claims are due and in Canada January’s new housing price index is released.
In the US March’s University of Michigan Sentiment index is due on Friday.
Europe
The British pound continued its wild ride as traders reacted to the extraordinary political events. An early move to $1.33, retesting last night’s nine-month high for sterling, went into reverse as the morning progressed. The drop in the pound throughout the morning helped the FTSE 100 nudge towards the 7,200 points level.
Eurozone markets were broadly positive but Germany’s DAX lacked direction.
Asia
Weaker Chinese industrial data added to the global mood of uncertainty today, pushing China’s Shanghai Composite Index back below the key 3,000 points level.
The Bank of Japan meets on Friday morning local time.