Asia
China and Hong Kong markets made steady progress today after a positive close on Wall Street, but weakness in Japan reinforced the message that trade concerns have never gone away. The G20 Summit is fast approaching at the end of November and there is still an absence of concrete progress from the United States and China.
Europe
Brexit political developments in recent days have made it hard to pin down market movements with any accuracy, especially with resignations coming thick and fast yesterday. Sterling so far has been stable this morning as currency investors await the Prime Minister’s next move, or more specifically those planning to oust her.
At time of writing, the pound is trading at $1.28 and €1.13 but after yesterday’s strong lurch downwards the sentiment is fragile. Yesterday’s under-pressure stocks, banks and housebuilders, were weaker again this morning but in the absence of new developments the losses were modest.
Expectations of an imminent no-confidence vote in Prime Minister Theresa May has put traders on notice that a quiet end to the week is unlikely.
The FTSE 100 was barely in positive territory in midmorning trading.
Eurozone exchanges were a touch higher after a speech by ECB chief Mario Draghi. He expects the Eurozone to keep growing, and despite softening inflation, intends to pursue the policy of monetary tightening outlined previously. The global outlook is a potential concern for European growth, he added, chiming with comments made by Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell earlier in the week.
North America
Futures have drifted lower on the last trading day of a disappointing week for US equities. The Dow Jones started the week above 26,000 points but is now 700 points lower. With a truncated trading week approaching and no great earnings or economic drivers on the immediate horizon, it’s hard to see what can turn sentiment around. A positive piece of concrete news on trade between the US and China would help but that seems remote.
Chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA) shares crashed in pre-market trading after missing revenue guidance.
Viacom (VIAB) reports earnings today.