Asia
Wall Street’s push to yet more record highs on Wednesday helped support Asian stock markets, although Japan’s main indices were little changed on the day before. After a strong run this week, Hong Kong’s stock market was closed for the Chinese Mid-Autumn festival. China’s market remains closed for the week, as does South Korea’s Kospi, which reopens on Tuesday.
Investors in Chinese equities will be keen to see the reaction from the country’s banking stocks when the market re-opens on Monday. China’s central bank has just eased reserve requirements for banks, which is expected to boost smaller and medium sized businesses. The move has already proved positive for Hong Kong-listed shares this week.
Europe
After a fall towards 7,200 a few weeks ago, the FTSE 100 pushed back towards the 7,500 level on Thursday, helped by a dip in the pound following yesterday’s Conservative Party conference speech from the prime minister, Theresa May. Top of the leaderboard was supermarket giant Tesco (TSCO), which recovered from yesterday’s results-driven weakness.
Energy firm SSE (SSE) was up 2% as investors regained some composure following news of a government price gap on energy. Madam Tussauds operator Merlin Entertainments (MRL) was nearly 2% higher on talk of a tie-up with Seaworld. Miners and banks were among the main winners in midmorning trading.
Spain’s Ibex index recovered some ground after losing around 400 points since the controversial Catalonia referendum, and bond yields steadied after rising sharply this week. The euro is still under pressure against the dollar as currency investors ponder the damage from the Spanish crisis on the eurozone. Catalonia is expected to declare independence from Madrid as early as next week, despite Spain’s king calling the vote illegal and undemocratic in a TV address earlier this week.
Germany’s Dax index retreated from yesterday’s record high as construction and retail figures for September came in slightly below August’s levels.
The European Central Bank will make the minutes of its recent meeting public and investors will be analysing the statement for an indication as to when the ECB will start scaling back its bond purchases.
North America
Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen said in a speech yesterday that the American central bank is committed to easing regulations on smaller banks. Kansas City Fed president Esther George, who is pushing for more interest rate hikes this year, is also speaking ata conference on Thursday.
Before the stock market opens, Challenger job cut numbers for September will be released, followed by weekly jobless claims – ahead of tomorrow’s key non-farm payroll numbers. August data on factory orders, durable goods and the trade balance will also be made available. Nasdaq-listed retailer Costco (COST) releases earnings after the market closes. Futures markets point to a flat opening on Wall Street – but the S&P 500 is eyeing a 20-year record run of consecutive daily gains.
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