Global Market Report - April 9, 2018

Asia

Markets in Asia-Pacific showed resilience after Friday’s fall in US equities, which had been triggered by a sharp drop in US monthly employment numbers. Indeed, with the current market volatility sparked by, among other risks, a trade war between the US and China, this could have sparked another selloff in Asian equities. The Japanese consumer confidence index for March came in a touch below expectations on Monday, but Japan’s Nikkei 225 edged up by around half a percent, or over 100 points to 21, 678 points. The index is still a long way off from the highs above 24,000 points at the start of the year, as global volatility and a minor yen resurgence against the dollar have hampered attempts to move beyond 25-year highs.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was the best performing large stock market in percentage terms on Monday, rising nearly 400 points to above 30,000 points.

Europe

The ousting of the British-born chief executive of Germany’s Deutsche Bank (DBK), John Cryan, boosted the struggling bank’s share price by over 4% to over 11 euros – but the shares were trading above 30 euros just three years ago. With losses and cost-cutting failing to impress shareholders, Cryan has been replaced two years early by Christian Sewing.