Asia
China’s Shanghai Composite Index continued its weaker trend, despite a rise in US markets on Tuesday, and gains in Japan and Hong Kong today. Shenzhen’s index fell further in percentage terms but both indices lost less than 1% on the day. Despite record highs on Wall Street, Chinese investors are still preoccupied with trade – and the change in sentiment away from emerging markets is not helping either.
Europe
UK indices drifted lower throughout the morning in the absence of strong drivers from the corporate world or from market-moving economic news. France and Germany managed to hold in positive territory approaching midday. German consumer confidence for September came in a touch lower than the previous month, while French GDP for the second quarter came in as expected at 0.2% quarter on quarter.
On the FTSE 100, distribution firm Bunzl (BNZL) was the best performer after yesterday’s results.
With a dearth of headline-grabbing IPOs this year, the flotation of luxury car brand Aston Martin may just save the day, James Bond-style. The company announced plans to achieve a premium listing on the London Stock Exchange and float at least 25% of its shares. The shares will only be available to retail investors on the secondary market, however. Germany’s Daimler, which owns nearly 5% of the company, will remain a shareholder. As well as outlining its float plans, the company revealed a rise in annual profits and upgraded its production targets to around 14,000 cars a year – compared with over 6,000 cars now.
North America
US economic growth is in focus today with the second reading of second quarter GDP. On an annualised basis, the economy grew by 4.1% in the second quarter. Stock market futures edged up today after a positive close on Tuesday. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq are also poised for new records.
Thursday brings Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) numbers for July, while Canadian GDP figures for June are also in view.
Salesforce (CRM) earnings are due today.
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