Asia
A strong close on Wall Street overnight, with the Dow Jones closing above 26,000 points for the first time, helped China and Hong Kong indices maintain their strong start to the year. Positive news that the Chinese economy grew by 6.9%, above forecasts, helped maintain investor optimism. China’s CSI 300, which reflects share price changes in Shanghai and Shenzhen, was up 0.5%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng hit a new record high. Chinese industrial production was also better than expected in December, rising 6.2% in December. A softening in the yen against the dollar again failed to lift Japanese equities, which dropped again on Thursday.
Europe
In the UK the FTSE 100 slipped below 7,700. A flurry of company updates maintained investors’ interest: Costa Coffee owner Whitbread (WTB) warned on consumer spending but shares rose regardless; BHP Billiton (BLT) said that its commodity production will be higher in 2017 year on year; Associated British Foods (ABF) said that Primark once again made a strong showing over Christmas; and the boom in parcel delivery helped Royal Mail (RMG) post a rise in revenues for the last nine months.
Exchanges in Europe were broadly higher – excluding Spain’s Ibex – after the rally on Wall Street on Wednesday.
North America
Results from Morgan Stanley (MS) before the market opens will close out the banking part of the four-quarter earnings season. Despite beating estimates, the major investment banks have so far reported weaker trading volumes and billions of dollars of charges from changes to the US tax system. Apple (AAPL) has revealed today that it will pay nearly $40 billion in one-off tax charges.
Credit card firm American Express (AXP) reports after the market closes.
The usual weekly US economic releases are also due on Thursday, including jobless claims, building permits, and crude oil inventories.
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