Asia
China’s uncertain stock market performance continued on Monday, with the CSI 300 index of large cap shares falling 1.3% to hit a three-month low. Profit-taking towards the end of the year was seen as a strong reason behind the sell-off, as well as ongoing anxiety after state media last week said a brewery firm’s shares were overvalued. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was also lower.
Japanese equities closed down on Monday but are still hovering around 25-year highs.
Europe
In the UK, the FTSE 100 climbed back from an opening loss to be around 20 points higher at 7428, buoyed by last week’s standout performer, budget airline EasyJet (EZJ). Insurance company Aviva (AV) is higher on talk of a possible share buyback.
UK banks Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) and Barclays (BARC) were among the day’s biggest fallers ahead of tomorrow’s annual “stress test” by the Bank of England.
In Europe, exchanges were broadly positive in the absence of strong economic indicators, with Spain’s Ibex being the standout performer. Germany’s Dax had just slipped into negative territory approaching midday.
North America
US stock markets get back into action after the Thanksgiving weekend and the economic calendar also comes back to life. Tuesday sees consumer confidence figures, while third-quarter GDP will be released on Wednesday – the forecast is for a rise of 3.2% year on year, against second quarter growth of 3%. Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen will be testifying before Congress on Wednesday, giving her outlook for monetary policy and the US economy. President Trump’s nominee as Yellen’s successor, Jerome Powell, appears before the Senate Banking Committee for his confirmation hearing on Tuesday. New home sales for October are expected to have declined over 6% month on month.
Canada’s GDP figures will be released on Friday, which are likely to show that the country is one of the fastest growing of the G7 nations. $100 billion market cap Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS) reports results on Tuesday, kicking off Canadian bank earnings season.
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