Global Market Report - January 15

Asia

Wall Street’s higher close on Friday gave Asian equity markets the impetus to begin the new trading week higher. Japan’s market-capitalisation-weighted Topix index was the biggest riser in percentage terms, rising around 0.5% to 1,883. The Nikkei index was also higher on Friday’s close, but Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and China’s CSI 300 struggled on Monday as the Chinese yuan rose on a higher currency fixing from the country’s central bank. China releases GDP numbers on Thursday, which are expected to show that the country’s economic output grew 6.8% year on year in the last quarter.

Europe

The UK’s biggest corporate news is that UK construction firm Carillion (CLLN) has filed for compulsory liquidation. The company had been in recent bailout talks with the UK government but on Monday the announcement came that there would be no rescue. Carillion’s share price crashed in the summer of 2017 amid concerns about its long-term future. The company’s listed rivals, such as Serco (SRP) and Balfour Beatty (BBY) gained on the news.

UK inflation figures are released on Tuesday. They are expected to show that consumer price inflation rose 3% in December, lower than the 3.1% seen in November. Bank of England policymakers have been forecasting that the recent rise in inflation is temporary, and the latest data will test this hypothesis.