Global Market Report - March 28, 2018

A tech rout on Tuesday night in the US triggered a fall in global markets on Wednesday

James Gard 28 March, 2018 | 11:02AM
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Asia

Tuesday’s US-driven rally proved shortlived with an abrupt reversal in Asia-Pacific markets after Wall Street turned negative. US technology firms again provided the spur for a global selloff, with high-profile names such as Facebook (FB) and Tesla (TSLA) falling sharply. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, with its technology slant, fell the hardest among Asian exchanges, losing around 2.5% on the day – star listing Tencent (00700), which has risen sharply in recent years, was off nearly 5%. China’s Shanghai and Shenzhen indices were down by more than 1% on Tuesday’s close. Japan joined in the global selloff despite a dip in the yen that usually triggers a rise in the Nikkei 225 and Topix indices.

Europe

Markets in Europe could not escape the global downbeat mood, and ahead of the Easter break most exchanges were off around 1%. Having broken back through 7,000 points with ease on Tuesday, the FTSE 100 dropped back below this key trading level today. Giant investment trust Scottish Mortgage (SMT) was the biggest faller on the FTSE 100 as its tech focus was out of favour with investors this week.

Classic defensive shares like utilities and pharmaceutical companies were close to the top of the leaderboard as most FTSE 100 stocks found themselves in the red. Biotechnology-focused Shire (SHP) was one of the biggest risers in a falling market on press reports of a possible takeover bid from Japan’s Takeda.

North America

Tech stocks, so long the star performers of the US market, are having a tougher time of it recently, with problems emerging on all sides. Fatal crashes involving self-driving vehicles have hit sentiment surrounding Uber and Tesla, whose shares were over 8% lower on Tuesday – and continued to fall in after-hours trading. Tesla is under investigation for a crash involving an autonomous vehicle that happened in California last week, and apparently is the most shorted stock in the US market now.

In focus today are two key pieces of economic data: the advance goods trade balance for February and the third estimate of fourth-quarter GDP. Oil prices are weakening ahead of releases on crude oil and gasoline inventories in the week to March 23.

The information contained within is for educational and informational purposes ONLY. It is not intended nor should it be considered an invitation or inducement to buy or sell a security or securities noted within nor should it be viewed as a communication intended to persuade or incite you to buy or sell security or securities noted within. Any commentary provided is the opinion of the author and should not be considered a personalised recommendation. The information contained within should not be a person's sole basis for making an investment decision. Please contact your financial professional before making an investment decision.

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Securities Mentioned in Article

Security NamePriceChange (%)Morningstar
Rating
Meta Platforms Inc Class A558.57 USD-0.80Rating
Scottish Mortgage Ord929.20 GBX0.74Rating
Tesla Inc353.42 USD4.06Rating

About Author

James Gard

James Gard  is senior editor for Morningstar.co.uk

 

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