Asia
Chinese markets re-opened after Friday’s holiday, but moves were very slight on Thursday’s close. Still, the Shanghai Composite Index remains above 3,200 points and is now at levels seen last March before the China stock market lost altitude. Despite a positive aura surrounding the latest trade talks, a lack of concrete news has hindered any further progress for China equities.
The Japanese consumer confidence index came in below expectations today. Chinese inflation figures are due at the end of the week.
Europe
Markets in Europe are slightly adrift at the start of the new trading week, with losses below 0.5% on the day, apart from in Spain, where the IBEX is off 0.75% on Friday’s close.
The UK’s FTSE 100 is also lower than the previous close but is still up around 700 points since the start of the year, in line with the bounce in global equities. This week sees full-year results from Tesco (TSCO).
The European Central Bank meets this week.
North America
Oil prices are on the up today, nudging $70 a barrel, amid military strife in oil-rich Libya and sanctions imposed by the US on Venezuela.
In North America today, economic data expected includes US factory and durable goods orders, and in Canada housing starts for March and building permits for February.
This week sees a raft of key data: US and Mexican inflation figures for March, FOMC meeting minutes and the University of Michigan sentiment index for April.
JPMorgan (JPM) kicks off earnings season for the largest companies in the United States.