Asia
Chinese stocks maintained their positive momentum from the end of last week despite ongoing trade fears and President Trump’s latest Twitter diplomacy, this time directed against Iran’s leader.
China’s Shanghai Composite rose 1% on Monday on Friday’s close to just below 2,900 points. The index is now just 100 points below the key 3,000 level, which it broke through in June and unsettled the region’s investors.
China was a rare outperformer in global markets, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng creeping higher and Japan’s Nikkei and Topix indices falling amid speculation of a change in policy by the Bank of Japan, which drove the yen higher.
Europe
Corporate news gave European investors plenty to digest. Shares in Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) fell after weekend news that chief executive Sergio Marchionne is gravely ill.
Ryanair (RYA) dragged down the European airline sector after a 20% fall in first-quarter profits, blaming higher fuel costs. Strikes by cabin crew are likely to blight the summer season, Ryanair said. The budget airline also joined the list of consumer-facing companies warning of the risks of a no-deal Brexit.
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) topped the FTSE 100 leaderboard on Monday morning as press reports revived the idea of the consumer healthcare division being split off from the company.
The European Central Bank meets this week but no change is expected to interest rates or quantitative easing after last month’s landmark announcement.
North America
After the bank earnings got off to a flying start, this week sees the turn of the tech companies. Even though the US stock market has been volatile in the recent quarter, expectations are high for Google parent company (GOOGL), Facebook (FB), and Amazon (AMZN) after a strong showing by Microsoft (MSFT) last week.
The US economy remains in focus with second-quarter GDP figures released on Friday. Stronger jobs figures in recent months have led analysts to forecasts a strong rise in economic growth in the period.