Asia
China stocks bounced on Thursday after a number of trading sessions under pressure, with apparent progress in trade negotiations setting the pace for Asia markets. Hong Kong stocks were boosted by reassuring Tencent (00700) earnings, with the tech firm’s shares rising nearly 6%. The Hang Seng index rose nearly 2% today, a gain of nearly 500 points, which took the index above 26,000 again.
Europe
The shock resignation of Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab, less than a day after Prime Minister Theresa May said the Cabinet had agreed the withdrawal agreement, sparked a sell-off in the pound. Sterling dropped from $1.30 to $1.28 and from €1.14 to €1.13.
Speculation is rife about the future of Theresa May and the Brexit deal, just as some progress appeared to have been made. Work and pensions secretary Esther McVey followed within an hour or so of Raab’s resignation, adding to the fragile sentiment in financial markets.
Usually the FTSE 100 would bounce with sterling weakening, but today stocks lost some early momentum and the index was just 0.2% higher at 7048 points.
Brexit-sensitive bank and property stocks were the biggest casualties, led by Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Barclays (BARC), whose shares were both off around 7%.
North America
Futures are volatile today after a weaker trading session for US markets yesterday.
US retail sales are in focus today, with expectations for a rise of 0.5% month on month in October, up from the 0.1% gain in September. Walmart (WMT) joins a list of retailers reporting this week, with numbers due
Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell, speaking at a Dallas Fed event, came out strongly in defence of the central bank in helping guide the economy, with the backdrop being implied criticism from President Trump. Powell also said the US economy may be showing signs of cooling as the global outlook darkens.