Asia
China’s equity markets started the week by outshining Japan’s indices in terms of daily gains. China’s CSI 300 rose nearly 1% to close above 4,000 points for the first time since 2015, when the country’s markets suffered a summer meltdown.
The Shenzhen Composite was the pick of China’s equity indices, surging over 150 points to 11,373. This rise was despite warnings from the country’s central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan that the high leverage of the banking systems made China’s economy vulnerable to shocks.
Japan’s equity markets opened after a long weekend but the main indices put in a muted performance after last week’s gains. The Nikkei 225 closed up largely unchanged above 22,500 points, while the market-capitalisation-weighted Topix was a touch lower on Thursday’s close just below 1,800 points. Japan’s economic data suggested that economy was moving in the right direction: the services PMI for October, at 53.4, was higher than September – and the composite PMI survey was also higher than in the previous month.
Europe
In the UK, the FTSE 100 was slightly lower in midmorning trade, with the standout economic data being another sharp fall in new car sales. The effect was noticeable outside the main index, with share price falls in car dealers Inchcape (INCH) and Motorpoint Group (MOTR) weighing on the All-Share Index. A firming of the pound against the dollar made gains above recent record highs for the FTSE 100
Weaker-than-expected services data in Germany and France put pressure on their respective stock markets at the start of the new trading week. Spain’s Ibex index continued its weaker trend amid the ongoing constitutional crisis.
North America
With the big corporate names having reported their third-quarter earnings, the week in US equity markets looks set for quieter start. Travel bargains website Priceline (PCLN), which is listed on the Nasdaq, is the biggest company by market cap to report on Monday. There are plenty of geopolitical factors for US investors to consider as the markets start a new week at record levels: President Trump’s visit to Asia and its effect on regional trade, a firming in the oil price after a number of anti-corruption arrests in Saudi Arabia over the weekend, as well as regional tension in the Middle East after a missile was launched at Saudi capital Riyadh over the weekend.
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