Asia
Regional markets were a touch higher on Wednesday morning after a strong performance from US stocks overnight reinforced the cautious return to risk after the US-North Korea standoff. Indices in Japan and China closed up marginally, while the Hong Kong Stock Exchange was closed after typhoon Hato caused chaos in the region.
In economic news, Japan’s manufacturing figures for August showed a modest increase from July. The Purchasing Manager Index (PMI) came in at 52.8, against 52.1 in July.
Europe
In the eurozone a raft of economic data gave investors an insight into the relative health of the currency Bloc and its most important economies. The composite PMI came in at 55.8, slightly higher than forecasts and the previous month, with manufacturing output performing better than services. The same picture was repeated in France and Germany.
While the euro gained some strength from the PMI surveys, the stock market reaction was muted – the EuroStoxx 50 was unchanged in midmorning trading. The euro hit a new eight-year high against the pound in response. In London, the FTSE 100 was similarly indecisive, posting gains of just three points to 7385.
Within the index, Provident Financial (PFG) recovered 2% after Tuesday’s share price crash. Advertising giant WPP (WPP) lost over 10% on Wednesday morning to £13.95 after it lowered its forecasts for the year and warned of tough advertising conditions.
North America
US stock markets bounced on Tuesday amid increased optimism that Donald Trump will start to push through his much-anticipated tax reforms, which are likely to provide a windfall to America’s biggest companies.
Nevertheless, Trump’s negative comments about the North American Free Trade Agreement mean that US futures are marked down for market open. In terms of economic data, manufacturing and services PMIs will be closely watched, as will home sales data for July and crude oil inventory numbers.
Royal Bank of Canada (RY) kicks off the Canadian back reporting season. Hewlett Packard’s spun-out printer and computer division HP Inc (HPQ) is also reporting earnings.