Asia

Stock markets across the wider Asia region sold off heavily today as global investors continued to shun emerging market equities. Indonesia’s JSX was one of the worst performing stock markets in the world, losing over 4% on the day. Among developed Asia-Pacific markets, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed over 700 points or 2.6% to 27,243. China’s Shanghai Composite Index was not far behind in percentage terms, losing nearly 2% on Tuesday’s closing levels, with losses accelerating towards the close. Softer services data from China also fuelled the negative sentiment towards the country’s economy.

Europe

A raft of services data across the Eurozone came in below forecasts. The UK bucked the trend with a Purchasing Managers’ Index of 54.3, up from a reading of 53.5 in July. The survey follows below-par surveys of the manufacturing and construction sectors for August.

Across Europe, stock markets were lower across the board. France’s CAC 40 was the biggest faller with a loss of over 1%. The FTSE 100 followed up yesterday’s slide with a 36 point drop to 7,421, revisiting levels last seen since April.

The pound is under pressure again as the strong dollar narrative marches on – in theory this should support UK shares on the FTSE 100 but the global malaise has been a stronger factor in recent trading sessions.

Housebuilder Barratt (BDEV) reported full-year results that showed a rise in pre-tax profits, houses sold and average selling price.

North America

Canada’s central bank is expected to hold rates at 1.5% today, but any surprise move will support the Canadian dollar.

The highlight of this week’s economic data is still the August job numbers. The non-farm data surprised on the downside last month. These the last monthly employment numbers before the Federal Reserve’s 25-26 September meeting, in which the Fed is expected to raise interest rates by another quarter point.