Global Market Report - January 5 2018

Asia

A record close above 25,000 on the Dow on Thursday night helped maintain the positive momentum across global markets on Friday morning. Japan’s Nikkei pushed over 200 points higher to 23,714, its highest level since 1992, led by financial stocks and a rise in electronics giant Toshiba (6502). Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained ground again, and closed near to the all-time high of 31,958 last seen in October 2007, on the back of gains for oil and property stocks. In China, the performance of the Shenzhen Composite Index held back gains for the CSI 300, which mirrors the movement of the top 300 stocks in the Shanghai and Shenzhen markets.

Europe

In London, the FTSE 100 caught the global mood and rose to its own record high above 7,700, although the daily gain was only 20 points. British Gas owner Centrica (CNA) was the biggest riser, while insurer Admiral (ADM) was the biggest faller after analysts lowered their price target and took a gloomy view of the car insurance sector. Staying with the car industry, news of a sharp fall in car registrations put pressure on listed car dealers such as Inchcape (INCH).

Eurozone inflation for December came in exactly as forecast a 1.4%, although core inflation was higher than expected at 1.1%, against 0.9% in November.