Global market report - October 23

Asian markets fell again at the start of the new trading week, while tensions increased between the US and Saudi Arabia

James Gard 23 October, 2018 | 6:00PM
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North America

 

Earning season gathers pace this week, but this time the prevailing sense of caution has limited any earnings-fuelled rally. Perhaps strong numbers Amazon (AMZN)  and Google parent company Alphabet (GOOGL) this week will help lift the gloom and give Nasdaq a boost after a turbulent month.

Dow Jones stalwarts McDonald's (MCD) and 3M (MMM) report today.

In economics, the week’s highlight is the release of the US GDP number on Friday. The economy is expected to have risen by 3.4% annualised on a quarter before, lower than the 4.2% in the second quarter.

Canada’s central bank is expected to raise interest rates on Wednesday to 1.75%, a quarter point rise.

 

Europe

 

Germany was the worst performing of Europe’s major stock markets on Tuesday in percentage terms, with a loss of over 2%. France’s CAC 40 was not too far behind the DAX.

The FTSE 100 slipped back below 7,000 points with a loss of around 1%.

UK banks Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY), Barclays (BARC) and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) report third quarter results this week. RBS announced last month that it would resume paying dividends for the first time since the bank was bailed out during the financial crisis.

Asia

After a brief respite from the volatility at the end of last week, markets in Asia Pacific

China’s rally on Monday proved short-lived, with investors pressing the “risk off” button despite recent promises by Chinese authorities to intervene in the markets.

The Shanghai Composite Index lost over 2% to close below 2,600 points on Tuesday, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 3%, or 806 points, to close at 25,346.

Weakness in US markets during earning season, with the Dow Jones and S&P 500 closing lower yesterday, are not helping the global sentiment.

Hefty losses were seen across the wider region: Japan’s Nikkei was off nearly 3%, Australia’s All Ordinaries and India’s BSE Sensex were around 1% lower. South Korea’s Kospi shed just over 2.5% on the day.

 

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James Gard

James Gard  James Gard is senior editor for Morningstar.co.uk.

 

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