Asia
Despite a softer close on Wall Street and ongoing trade war noise, markets in Asia-Pacific managed a modest rebound on Thursday. China was the pick of the region, with the CSI 300 and Shanghai Composite registering gains of over 2%. South Korea today warned about the effect of a trade war on its technology exports and the Kospi index crept higher amid wider gains in the region.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 pushed back above 22,000 points with a gain of over 1%. The dollar breached 112 yen for the first time since January 2018. The USD-JPY exchange hit a low of around 104 yen in March but has been on the ascent since as currency traders readjust to the return of the strong dollar.
Europe
The takeover battle for FTSE 100 broadcaster Sky (SKY) intensified today, putting the company’s shares at the top of the blue-chip index. Just a day after 21st Century Fox (FOXA) tabled a £14 a share offer for Sky, Comcast (CMCSA) returned with an offer of £14.75 a share. Morningstar analysts raised their fair value estimate for Sky shares to £13.78 a share, which discounts the expected 22p dividend.
The FTSE 100 was up 43 points in midmorning trading at 7,635, a gain in line with many European exchanges. In Germany, shares in luxury carmaker BMW (BMW) rose amid an increase in first half sales.
North America
US monthly inflation data for June will be released before the market opens on Thursday. The Consumer Price Index is expected to have risen by 2.9% year on year, a rise from 2.8% the previous month. The data is released at the same time as weekly jobless claims and weekly earnings for the month of June.
After Canada’s central bank raised interest rates yesterday to 1.5%, houses prices for May will also be in view. The property price index is expected to show a modest increase year on year.
Tomorrow sees the start of second quarter earnings season, with banks JP Morgan (JPM), Wells Fargo (WFC) and Citigroup (C) firing the starting gun.
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