Asia
Japanese markets maintained their upwards momentum on Thursday after a strong performance for much of September – despite the political uncertainty caused by news of a snap election in the country at the end of October, and the ever-present threat from North Korea. The benchmark Topix index closed up nearly 1% at 1676.17, having started the month around 1,600. The Nikkei also closed higher, holding above the 20,000 level that the index broke through earlier this month.
A raft of Japanese economic data are due just after the market opens on Friday, with the highlight being CPI inflation data for August. This is forecast to show a 0.6% rise in year on year inflation, higher than the previous month. There are also numbers on retail sales, the August jobless rate, plus minutes from last week’s policy meeting at the Bank of Japan. China’s CSI 300 Index closed marginally higher at 3822.54, as a relatively uneventful month in Chinese equities draws to a close – ahead of next week’s market shutdown.
Europe
There are plenty of concerns to trouble eurozone investors, not least Germany’s new political landscape and Spain’s problems in Catalonia, but markets appear relatively untroubled. Germany’s Dax is set to close the month nearly 1,000 points higher than at the start of September, at nearly 13,000. France’s Cac 40 index also looks to close the month higher but the gains are more muted than in Germany.
In the UK, the FTSE 100 was barely higher in midmorning trading, at just over 7,300. Prime minister Theresa May spoke at a conference celebrating 20 years of the Bank of England’s operational independence from government. The pound has been under pressure in the last day or so amid talks of a “trade war” between the UK and US after the latter imposed trade tariffs on Bombardier planes.
In company news, travel group Tui (TUI) was down nearly 1% despite reiterating its forecast for 10% earnings growth this year.
North America
Ahead of the US market open, investors will be able to digest the US economic growth figures for the second quarter. The United States economy is expected to have grown by 3% on an annualised basis, confirming previous readings for the period. Weekly jobless claims will be closely watched ahead of next Friday’s non-farm payroll numbers. In the markets, the dollar’s recent gains has heaped pressure on gold, which is now below $1,300 an ounce.
Equity investors will be monitoring the progress of President Trump’s reforms to tax laws, which will have some impact on America’s companies, particularly smaller cap firms. US markets are expected to build on Wednesday’s gains, which were driven by rises in financial and technology stocks. In terms of company’s reporting, Accenture (ACN) and Canada’s BlackBerry (BB) are among the biggest by market cap.