Asia
Markets in Asia-Pacific reacted modestly to Monday night’s drama on Wall Street, where a 7% slide in Facebook shares pushed the Nasdaq down sharply. Fears over the Trump administration imposing more tariffs on China as soon as this week hardly helped the global mood but Chinese and Hong Kong listed shares ended the day slightly higher than the day before. Japan’s Nikkei 225 and Topix indices are off a shade, however, despite a modest strengthening in the dollar against the yen.
Europe
Above-target UK inflation has been a thorn in the side of the Bank of England and the Government in recent months. So today’s news that the Consumer Price Index for February fell to 2.7% from 3% will be seen as welcome news, not least for Britain’s hard-pressed consumers. In last week’s Spring Statement, Chancellor Philip Hammond said that inflation should move towards the Bank’s 2% target. Yesterday’s news of a breakthrough in Brexit negotiations send the pound higher against major currencies – but today the lower-than-expected inflation figures send sterling lower.
The FTSE 100 was still in positive territory in midmorning trading and attempted a small move higher after the inflation numbers. Nevertheless, the index was just 10 points higher on the day at 7052 points.
Yesterday’s big mover, Micro Focus International (MCRO), whose shares crashed on Monday, were the biggest riser on the FTSE 100, gaining 5%.
Shares in FTSE 250-listed housebuilder Bellway (BWY) were up over 3% after an update set of first-half results. Profits, revenues and asking prices were higher in the period, and the company also hiked its dividend.
Eurozone exchanges lacked direction approaching midday.
North America
The controversy over how Facebook uses consumer data (FB), which sparked a tech selloff on Monday, is likely to spill over into Tuesday’s trading session. The Nasdaq is forecast to drop today, according to futures markets.
In terms of companies reporting, global logistics firm Fedex (FDX) releases earnings after the market closes.
The Federal Reserve begins its March meeting, which is expected to conclude on Wednesday with a quarter point rise in interest rates.
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