Asia
The global mood of uncertainty was maintained by Asia-Pacific on Tuesday, even without any direction being given by US markets, which were closed for Memorial Day.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was one of the biggest fallers in percentage terms, shedding 1% on the day. While the index has performed strongly this month, pushing above 31,000 points, it is danger of ending the month where it started, just above 30,000.
The region’s tech firms were under pressure this week, especially those involved in the production of screens for the Apple iPhone (AAPL), amid reports that the US tech giant is planning a shift from LCD to OLED screens.
Japan’s equity market was once again held back by a stronger yen.
Europe
Eurozone political risk seems to be back with a vengeance after the stock and bond markets belatedly reacted to the failure of Italy to form a government after recent elections.
Italy’s FTSE MIB fell nearly 3% on Tuesday, following on from similar falls yesterday, while bond yields spiked and the euro fell to its lowest level against the dollar since November.
Spain’s Ibex was also off over 2% as the country faced its own political uncertainty, with current Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy facing a vote of no confidence this week.
The UK’s FTSE 100 retreated further from its recent record high, with only six stocks in positive territory in midmorning trading. The FTSE 250 was the biggest faller in percentage terms, weighed down by a profits warning from electricals retailer Dixons Carphone (DC), which sent its shares down over 20%.
North America
US markets resume trading on Tuesday with a busy week of economics to preoccupy traders. Today sees the release of May’s consumer confidence figures, and on Wednesday we get the second reading of US first-quarter GDP. Canada’s central bank is expected to hold interest rates at 1.25% on the same day.
But Friday’s non-farm payrolls are once again the highlight of the week’s news calendar. Markets are estimating a rise in jobs of under 200,000 in the month, against 164,000 in April.
Canadian banks continue to report this week.
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